Fattoush

For the salad

• 3 big heirloom tomatoes of different varieties, such as red, purple cherokee, green zebra, and yellow
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, most flavorful you can find – I favor yellow ones -- halved
• 3-4 middle eastern cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced into chunks
• 3 scallions, bulb end removed, sliced
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced, optional
• 4 pieces good quality pita bread
• 1/4 cup mint, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sumac
• salt and pepper

For the dressing

• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 3 tablespoons pomegranate syrup
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried mint
• 1/2 teaspoon sumac
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350. If pita is pocket-style, slice open. Put in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sumac. Bake pita 15-20 minutes, until crisped. Alternative: if it’s too hot to turn on the oven, you can just slip the pita slices in the toaster and toast until crisped. Remove toasted pita from oven or toaster, and break into uneven bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
2. Set aside a bowl for making the dressing; as you slice tomatoes, you’ll add the collected juices to the bowl. Rinse and dry large heirloom tomatoes delicately. Halve tomatoes, then slice each into 2-bite wedges, taking care to reserve the collected juice and transfer it into the dressing bowl. Halve cherry tomatoes. Transfer all tomatoes to large, shallow bowl or rimmed serving platter. Add cucumbers, red onions if using, scallions, and mint to salad bowl, and carefully incorporate without smushing tomatoes. (That’s a technical term.) Add pita chips on top.
3. Make dressing: combine all ingredients except oil, and whisk to combine. Add oil in slow stream, whisking as you pour to emulsify dressing. Drizzle dressing over salad, and let sit for 20-30 minutes before serving, tossing every 10 minutes or so to meld flavors.