Fattoush

These are Lawson's cucumber plants from last year. So far this year they're only eight inches high.

Yesterday I made some fattoush for the going-away party of one of my friends at work. This is adapted from a Claudia Roden recipe:

Salt and drain in a colander over the sink for half an hour or so:
- 2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped (I like 3/4" cubes)

Combine in a large bowl:
- whole wheat pita bread (or whatever other flatbread is around), very well toasted and snapped into roughly 1" shards.
- juice of 1 or 2 lemons
- 1/8 cup olive oil, or much more

Add:
- a few cups of fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 red onion or mild onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- handful fresh mint, chopped
- handful parsley, chopped

Mix in cucumbers. Add salt to taste. Someone should probably experiment with letting the flavors blend for several hours and then adding some separately dressed bread...as it is, there's a tension between wanting the bread to be fresh and wanting the whole thing to sit and mellow for a while, especially because of the onion.

I also sent this to a stranger today as part of a recipe exchange. Since it was already typed up, I figured I should put it up here. Oh, I love summer food.