Middle Eastern Pita Salad

Two of my best friends are vegetarian, and I love the challenge of finding new recipes for them when they come over for supper. I had this recipe saved in my “to make” list for awhile, and was so excited to finally be able to try it!

It turned out absolutely delicious. We ate it as a main course that night, but then hubby and I had it as a side dish to steak the next night – so you can go either way!

Recipe adapted from Chatelaine.

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Middle Eastern Pita Salad

Servings: 2 servings

Author: The Gourmet Housewife

Ingredients

• Salad:
• 1 pita preferably whole wheat, split in half
• vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 red pepper
• 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts drained
• 3 ripe plum tomatoes or 2 cups small multi-colored cherry tomatoes I had neither and used a combination of tomatoes on the vine and grape tomatoes
• 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1/2 19 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint or basil I went with basil
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta
  
• Dressing:
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/2 tsp cumin

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Lightly brush both sides of pita with vegetable oil and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp cumin. Place on baking sheet and bake in preheated oven 2 to 4 minutes, or until crisp. Remove from oven and tear into bite-size pieces.
• Slice pepper into bite-size pieces. Slice artichokes into quarters if necessary and coarsely chop plum tomatoes. Place all in a large bowl. Slice olives in half. Add along with chickpeas, mint/basil, feta, and pita pieces.
• Squeeze juice from lemon into a small bowl. Whisk in oil, garlic, and cumin until evenly mixed. Drizzle over salad and toss.

Notes

Salad gets tastier as it sits, so go ahead and make it up an hour or two before it's served.