Fattoush Salad

from Insalata's Mediterrean Table Cookbook
via Sisi Damner

serves 6 as a side dish or 3 as a light meal

2 pita breads
1/3 cup blended oil (1 part olive oil and 3 parts canola oil)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and ground
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 hearts of romaine, torn roughly by hand (about 6 cups)
3/4 cup crumbled sheep's mild feta cheese
3/4 cup vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup peeled, seeded and diced English cucumber
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup finely chopped mint

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Trim the edges off the pita breads, keeping a circle shape and split horizontally into two halves. Cut each half into 6 triangles, and arrange on abaking sheet. Toast in the oven until golden and crispy: about 12 minutes, but check at 10 minutes and remove if done. Cool and break the chips into 2 or 3 pieces each.

In a small skillet over low heat, gently warm the blended oil and garlic until fragrant. Let it cool. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cooled oil and garlic mixture, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin and pepper.

In a large bowl, combine the romaine hearts, pita chips, feta, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, olives, red onion, cilantro, mint and about 3/4 cup of the vinaigrette: toss well. Add more vinaigrette if needed to coat the leaves. Divide among the plates and serve immediately.

This is an extremely popular salad at Insalata's Restaurant in San Anselmo. People come from all over the Bay Area just to indulge in it! If you wish to make this more of a meal, add chicken pieces to your salad.