This is my Middle Eastern take on a super quick and easy British favourite. The star of the show in this dish is the vegetables and the bacon is the sidekick. I’d recommend using smoked streaky bacon to match up with the smokiness of the charred vegetables. Charred lettuce is my absolute favourite – so easy, so delicious, you can’t go wrong.
Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
2 naans/flatbreads
6 rashers streaky bacon
1 tbs date molasses (or treacle)
1 vine tomato
1 gem lettuce
100g finely shredded white cabbage
20g chopped parsley
1 heaped tsp harissa
1 tbsp Greek yoghurt
½ lime, squeezed
1 tbs olive oil
Za’tar, pinch
Sumac, pinch
Table salt, pinch
Mix the parsley, white cabbage, lime juice, sumac, harissa and yoghurt together in a bowl and set aside. Cut the tomato in half and the gem lettuce into quarters, then dress in olive oil. Pre-heat the griddle pan (or get the BBQ going!) until smoking hot. Char the tomatoes and gem lettuce on the griddle, turning onto all sides until soft and well charred. Cut the tomato halves into bitesize pieces, then mix with the lettuce and season with za’tar and salt.
Cook the bacon until it starts to crisp up. Brush with date molasses on both sides and watch it bubble, then set aside, keeping warm if possible. Char the naan on both sides and transfer to a plate. Arrange the cabbage and parsley salad, charred tomatoes and lettuce on the bread and top with the bacon.
Jono Jenkins is the head chef and food director of BabaBoom, London.
