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Fattoush Salad with chicken includes croutons roasted along with the chicken. The ultimate fattoush, inspired by the famous Zuni Cafe dish.
Roasted chicken fattoush may not be the first thought any of us has when we think of a meal that is rich and lush.
Roasted chicken is healthy.
Fattoush, the crisp Lebanese salad with pita chips and pomegranate vinaigrette, is healthy.
But as Iโve been happily fulfilling Danโs weekly requests for roasted chicken, and my weekly requests (to myself) for fattoush, I wondered how I might change it up some.
My focus on the pita chip factor was narrowed when my brother Richard became a fattoush fanatic last year. I attribute that development to gifting him the perfect ingredients he needed for fattoush vinaigrette. He attributes his fanaticism to his homemade pita chips, which he fries a la minute in hot oil using a whole thin pita bread, then shatters the salted, hot, crisp little ditties into his salad just before serving.
While fattoush without the correct vinaigrette is not fattoush, there are options for the pita chips…
I started thinking about the famous roasted chicken with croutons served in a salad at Zuni Cafรฉ in San Fancisco, and the many recipes Iโve seen that approximate that dish. They all insist on salting the chicken in advance to heighten flavor, which I can take or leave. To me, the key to great roasted chicken is in not overcooking it. A thermometer solves this, poking around the bird in a few spots to reach 160-ish degrees in the thickest spot. Another problem-solver for even roasting is laying the chicken flat by cutting out the back (the term of art is โspatchcock,โ which my friends could not get over when I served them this chicken and used that bizarre word. See my Spatchcock Chicken recipe for more details on this must-know method).
The star of the dish though, in my estimation, is the croutons. Not just regular, excellent croutons, which are life-giving in their usual state. Here the croutons are well-seasoned and when baked together with the chicken (thank you Cookโs Illustrated!), absorb the drippings from the roasting bird as they toast, and are transformed into a truly decadent bite.
Iโll define it further (vegetarians and vegans, look away): these croutons taste better than the naughtiest, crispiest skin on a piece of perfectly fried chicken.
Mix up a traditional fattoush salad in the style we love (large bowl, extra virgin olive oil, pomegranate molasses, fresh mint, and more), roast your chicken over a bed of good bread cubes, and enter one of the greatest, most addicting special-occasion meals weโve ever added to our line-up. Now weโve really put the โfatโ in Fat Tuesday, with simple yet seriously Mardi Gras-level Roasted Chicken Fattoush.
Fattoush Salad with Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
For the Chicken and Croutons:
- 1 loaf country bread, cut in 1-inch cubes and dried out a bit in the oven or at room temp, enough for 6 cups
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for basting the bird
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- granulated garlic powder
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 3-4 lb. whole fryer chicken, spatchcocked (back removed)
- paprika
For the fattoush:
- 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
- 1 small garlic clove, minced or grated
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons Garlic Mint Salt or crushed dried mint
- 2 teaspoons sumac
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 hearts of romaine, chopped or torn, kept chilled until just before serving
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 2-3 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced in half-moons
- 10 fresh mint leaves, chopped or torn
Instructions
Roast the chicken and croutons:
- Place the oven rack in the center and heat the oven to 425โ.
- In a enameled cast iron roaster or similar roasting pan just a little bigger than the chicken, toss the bread cubes with the olive oil and half of the chicken broth, then season lightly with granulated garlic, salt, and pepper. Arrange the bread in a single layer.
- Without trimming any of the extra skin/fat away, lay the chicken, breast side facing up, over the bread. Season the chicken generously with granulated garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Roast the chicken for 30 minutes. Brush the chicken with olive oil and add the remaining chicken stock to the pan. Continue roasting for another 30 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer reads just under 165โ in several spots.
- After removing the chicken from the oven, transfer the chicken to a cutting board to rest, and scrape the croutons from the bottom of the roasting pan with a thin metal spatula.
Make the fattoush:
- In a small bowl, juice the lemon. Add the pomegranate molasses, garlic, salt, mint salt or dried mint, and olive oil. In a large salad bowl, toss the romaine, tomatoes, onion, and radishes with the vinaigrette.
- Carve the chicken breast, legs, and thighs and lay them on a warm platter. Add the croutons to the fattoush and toss to combine.
- Serve immediately, with the chicken on the side or plated atop the fattoush.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The Kitchen just had an article about the Zuni chicken and then I saw this. I have the Zuni Cafe cookbook but I have yet to make that chicken. After living in Jordan, I make fattoush salad, and have always made roasted spatchcock chicken so this is great! My secret: Whole Foods has spatchcock chicken and when they go on sale I buy a couple. Even at regular price, they are reasonable.
I love it Janet, thank you!!! Hope you try this!
Just delicious and easy to put together for a substantial salad lunch. I added some cooked French beans to my Fattoush with herbs from my garden. This recipeโs a keeper for us.
Fiona thank you! I love the idea of adding the French beans (and from your own garden!!). So delicious.