Meet Our Newest Tastemaker: Maureen Abood
We are thrilled to introduce you to our newest Tastemaker, Maureen Abood. Maureen is an award-winning blogger and author of the award-winning cookbook, Rose Water & Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from My Lebanese Kitchen. Her recipes, stories, and products have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, Saveur, Food & Wine, among many others. We fell in love with not only her recipes, but her eye for details.
We asked Maureen to share one of her favorite recipes and she was quick to suggest her popular lebanese fattoush salad.
LEBANESE FATTOUSH SALAD
The recipe is printed with permission from Rose Water & Orange Blossoms: Fresh and Classic Recipes from My Lebanese Kitchen (Running Press 2015)
I could eat this salad every single day and still want more! See how it’s done in my video, right here! Get the Fattoush Kit for the vinaigrette here! Find the recipe for the pita chips here. You can add cucumbers and any other vegetables you have on hand to this salad. The more the merrier!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons dried mint or Garlic Mint Salt, divided
- 2 teaspoons sumac, divided
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 hearts of romaine chopped or torn in pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 radishes thinly sliced
- 1-2 cups Pita Chips
- 10 fresh mint leaves, chopped or torn
INSTRUCTIONS
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For the vinaigrette, in a small bowl whisk the lemon, pomegranate molasses, garlic, salt, 1 teaspoon of the Garlic Mint Salt, 1 teaspoon of the sumac, and olive oil until it is thoroughly combined.
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In your big salad bowl, combine the romaine, tomatoes, onion, radishes, and pita chips. Dress the salad with the vinaigrette, tossing it to evenly coat everything. Dust the fattoush with the remaining Garlic Mint Salt and sumac, fresh mint, and serve immediately.
You can find all of her recipes in her award-winning cookbook, Rose Water & Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from My Lebanese Kitchen.
While Maureen is known for her cooking, we also think she has excellent taste in details. As our Tastemaker, she has chosen classic, elegant personalized items that reflect her sense of style. You can see all of her Tastemaker picks on our site and let them inspire you to create your own.
“I love to treat myself to personalized stationery every year for my birthday in February. The fun is spending some time selecting the style, fonts, paper and the ink colors, and then the little surprise when I receive them of how beautifully they turned out. This year I designed a heavy-weight letterpress flat card with a contrasting lined, addressed envelope. One of my favorite color combinations is green and blue, so when the set I ordered arrived in such happy colors with the artisan beauty of the letterpress and substantial weight of the card in hand . . . well, I can’t decide what’s better: getting to be the one to write on these stunning cards, or being a recipient of such a beautiful piece of stationery. It will be a pleasure to write my birthday thank-you notes, and the many lovely sentiments my people deserve in the year ahead.” ~ Maureen
We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know a little about Maureen! You can learn more about all of our Tastemakers on our site and their personalized picks.
XO,
Jennifer