This is soooo tasty, and was the first meal of my “Foodie Magazine Diet” challenge!
The herbs, feta and Peppadew peppers (my FAVORITES) give this salad an amazing, bright flavor, while the crunch of the pita bread and snap peas give it textural interest. My family gobbled this one up! (Including my toddler, though she wasn’t a fan of the peppers.)
Adapted from this recipe in Fine Cooking.
Ingredients
- 5 oz. whole wheat pita bread
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 small lemons)
- 1 medium shallot, or red onion, minced (about 3 Tbs.)
- 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup packed, finely chopped fresh basil
- 1 15-oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
- 8 oz. tomatoes, halved (about 1-1/2 cups)
- 6 oz. sugar snap peas, trimmed and quartered on a diagonal (about 1-3/4 cups)
- 6 oz. fat-free feta, crumbled (about 1 heaping cup)
- 3 oz. baby greens (3 packed cups)
- 2 Tbs. minced Peppadew peppers (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350. Split the pitas in half and toast 5–7 minutes. Set aside. (They will crisp up as they sit.)
- Meanwhile, whisk the lemon juice, shallot, sugar, a large pinch of salt, and a couple of grinds of pepper in a small bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Combine the beans, tomatoes, and snap peas in a large bowl. Whisk the olive oil into the onion mixture and then toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette. Coarsely crumble the toasted pita over the top. Add the feta, greens, and peppers, if using, and gently toss to combine. Serve immediately.
Notes
10 PPV
I modified this recipe based on what I had on hand, and to make it slightly healthier. For example, I used fat-free feta (the only fat-free cheese I ever use, because it tastes just as good as the original to me) and cut the amount of olive oil called-for in half.
Substituting whole wheat pita for the lavash in the original recipe also added a tiny bit of nutrition and fiber.
I also substituted white beans for chickpeas, basil for mint, and baby greens for arugula because that's what I had on hand. It gave this salad more of a Mediterranean feel than the Middle Eastern feel of the original, but was quite tasty!
Oy! This sounds tasty – can’t wait to try it when I get home and back to cooking. Have you found a store with a good price on feta? Any one over another?
Not particularly. I usually get it in the deli section at Sprouts; they put their own in little plastic containers, so it’s a little cheaper than the brand name stuff.