Mediterranean Salad Pita

If you put the feta under the veggies, it hits your tongue when you bite into the sandwich

This is one of those meals I turn to after a stretch of eating poorly. It's light and healthy and has lots of veggies, but if also has bread and cheese, so I don't feel deprived. It's perfect on a hot day, too.

I have varied ingredients depending on what I have and what's in season. This time, I had good lettuce in the garden, so I went with pretty typical salad ingredients. Other times, I've roasted vegetables and used that as the base of the salad. I would have added banana peppers if I'd had any, and I imagine that other people would enjoy olives in this.

It's worth home-making the hummus, especially if you have fresh parsley in the garden that can be blended into it. (See the green specks? So good.)

And I recommend buying whole feta and cutting it into slices. It's less messy than crumbled feta, it tastes stronger, and it's usually cheaper to buy.

The Recipe:

1 whole wheat pita, large enough to fold into a sandwich

2 tb hummus

slices of feta

balsamic dressing (2 tb olive oil, 2 tb balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, grated garlic)

veggies of your choosing (this time I used lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and tomato)

Toss vegetables with dressing.
Spread hummus over entire pita.
Layer feta and then dressed veggies on half of pita.
Fold and eat.

The Verdict:

Overall grade: A-

Overall reason: Healthy and delicious. A bit labor-intensive if you make the hummus and chop lots of veggies.

Time to prepare: 10-40 minutes depending on what vegetables you use and whether you make the hummus

Husband quote: Woah, this looks good! (This is a victory for a meatless meal.)

Comments

Kitchen renovation!

BEFORE: AFTER: Still to come: a beautiful new induction range and some wood shelving on the left side, above the backsplash. And maybe the shelving unit on the wall facing the cabinets should be green, but we're going to live with a while before making that decision.

Red lentil dal

Cucumber salad is key. This dal is perfect. Most of us took seconds, and I'm really excited to eat the last portion that's sitting in the fridge right now. The accompanying salad is really great for adding texture, crunch, and acidity to the meal. I wouldn't skip it. I got it from Tea for Turmeric and prepared it pretty much as written, but doubled and with none of the optional ingredients. This recipe doesn't mention any seasoning/dressing on the salad, but adding lemon and salt to it really brightened things up. The Recipe: (from Tea for Turmeric) 2 c red lentils splash of avocado oil 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 small onions, finely chopped 1 inch ginger, grated 4 small tomatoes, chopped 2 thai chilies, minced 2 tsp cumin powder 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp cayenne 1 tsp turmeric 2+ tsp kosher salt 2 tsp lemon juice 1/2 c cilantro, chopped For serving: basmati rice and plain yogurt Salad ingredients: 1/2 english cucumber, sliced 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered 1/4 onion, slic...

Vietnamese Curry Stir-Fry

When I get the recipe just right, I'll go to the effort of adding fried shallots on top. I'm back to my on-and-off mission of trying to make a stir-fry as delicious as the shrimp I used to get at Pho Grand in St. Louis during college. It was called "cari tom" but it definitely wasn't a coconut milk type of curry, and they ALSO have a separate listing on their menu for "cari tom dac biet" which includes "coconut milk sauce" in their description. So I'm pretty sure it was just a stir-fry that had curry flavors in it? I got myself a big container of Vietnamese curry powder and I'm going to keep experimenting. This is the closest I've come so far. Changes for the future: - More oil and sugar, restaurant style - A blend of fish sauce and soy sauce, instead of just soy sauce - Fried shallots on top The Recipe (adapted from Veggie Anh ): 3 tb fresh lemongrass, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 Thai chili, minced 1 pinch salt 2 tb avoc...

Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

Search This Blog