Feta and pomegranate fattoush

These simple recipes make the best of the season’s colourful bounty

I love this salad, which is loosely based on the Middle Eastern staple. It’s refreshing, feels healthy and goes with anything you pair it with — you can leave out the feta for a meaty meal side. Feel free to play around with the ingredients. Replace pitta with ciabatta for more of a panzanella vibe, or top the salad with crumbled falafel.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS For the salad

2 pitta breads

1 tbsp olive oil

3 fat spring onions, halved and diced 1 large cucumber (or 3 small ones) peeled, seeds removed, quartered lengthwise and chopped into 1.5cm dice

10 yellow baby plum tomatoes, quartered 10 red baby plum tomatoes, quartered 3 medium-sized tomatoes, diced into 1cm pieces

1 red pepper

A handful of radishes, finely sliced or quartered Seeds of half a pomegranate

10g each of fresh flatleaf parsley, coriander and mint, roughly chopped

100g feta cheese, crumbled

For the dressing

Good quality extra virgin olive oil Juice of 1 lemon Maldon salt

1 – 2 tbsp sumac

METHOD

Heat oven to 180°C fan.

Cut the pittas around the edges so you can open them up like a book up to make four thin bits of pitta. Using scissors, cut them into triangles between 4 and 6 per pitta depending on how large they are.

Place in a roasting tin, drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with salt , and gently mix to coat the bread in oil. Spead them in one layer and bake for about 10 minutes until golden. Keep an eye on them as they can quickly morph from golden to charcoal.

To make the salad: halve and seed the peppers and chop into 1cm dice. Put in a large bowl with the spring onions, cucumber, tomatoes, radishes, herbs, pomegranate, feta, pitta and a heaped tablespoon of sumac.

Mix and then add 4 tablespoons of oil and half the lemon juice and a good pinch of salt then mix again. Taste, adding more oil, lemon or seasoning if needed.

Serve topped with the remaining pitta triangles and a generous shower of tart, ruby sumac.