My sister-in-law was somehow able to grow a zucchini the size of my leg and we’re only halfway through the summer. She was kind enough to send it along to me, via my mother- and father-in-law and I was clever enough to find a recipe that, if squash had raisons d’etre, this would be it.
Fattoush was, undoubtedly, the invention of a resourceful Levantine woman whose kids left the pita out (again) to get stale. (Seriously, do those kids think a Djinn lives in the house and cleans up after them???). Many years later, a shrewd Florentine woman did the same thing and gave us one of my favorite ways to use good summer tomatoes: panzanella.
In addition to the grilled zucchini, there are grilled bell peppers and pita bread toasted on the grill (I did not buy pocket pitas so I skipped trying to cut them in half horizontally as the recipe calls for). After grilling, all of these lovely things are combined with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, olives, scallions (which I’m only now realizing I forgot to add), mint and cilantro. All of this is then tossed with a lemon-cumin vinaigrette and topped with crumbled Feta.
The flavors are amazing and so summery. I served it with Persian Rice with Golden Crust but it would also be great with a grilled meat, especially lamb.
Grilled Zucchini and Bell Pepper Fattoush is from the June, 2007 issue of Bon Appetit and right here on Epicurious.
