Fetteh: A Chickpea, Bread and Yogurt Dish

Now that Thanksgiving is over and everyone is going to be calorie counting until Christmas I thought it would be a good idea to post a healthy and light recipe that is also delicious and super easy to make (the best meals are always the simplest: I am sure all of you are tired from slaving away for hours over the Thanksgiving turkey).

Fetteh is a Lebanese and Syrian dish that is made of layers of toasted or baked pieces of pita bread and chickpeas which are covered with a thick layer of seasoned yogurt.  I sometimes like substituting the chickpeas with eggplant.

Ingredients:

2 cups of chickpeas (canned or dry)
2 pieces of pita bread (cut into small bite-sized pieces)
1/4 cup of pine nuts
A handful of pomegranate seeds (to garnish)
Parsley (to garnish)

Ingredients for the Yogurt:

2 cups plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced 
Salt and Pepper to taste
Juice of half a lemon
A pinch of cumin

NOTE: If you are using dry chickpeas, soak them overnight.

Heat the chickpeas either in the can water or in the water in which they were soaked until they are cooked. Season with salt.

In the meantime, bake the pita bread pieces in an oven heated to 350 degrees F until they are browned and crispy, but not burnt (about 5 to 10 minutes, but keep an eye on them).

Mix all the yogurt ingredients together.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

In a large bowl, place the warm chickpeas on the bottom and then add the bread pieces on top.  Next, add the yogurt and top them off by sprinkling the pine nuts, pomegranate and parsley.

It is very important that you add the yogurt to the dish only when you are ready to serve it because otherwise it will make the bread soggy and the heat from the bread and chickpeas will make the yogurt a clumpy consistency if left on for too long.

It doesn't get any simpler than this! :)

Enjoy

Serves 6