Roasted Vegetable Fattoush Salad
Crunchy zatar seasoned pita chips, sweet caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, and crisp, lemon laced vegetables; our Roasted Vegetable Fattoush Salad is a perfect light dinner that hints towards the warmer months ahead.
Yield: Serves 4 as a main
Ingredients:
Roasted pita and vegetables:
- 4 small Pita bread rounds, cut into squares
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 large red onion, cut into thin strips
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup Zatar seasoning (2 Tbs. sesame seeds, 1 Tbs. thyme, 1 Tbs. oregano, 2 Tbs. sumac)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Salad:
- 1 large head romaine lettuce, cut or torn into small pieces
- 1/3 pound feta, cubed
- 1 large cucumber, cubed
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
Lemon zest vinaigrette:
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (approximately 2 lemons)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Steps:
- For the roasted pita and vegetables: Heat oven to 425.
- In a small bowl, mix together the zatar seasoning, garlic powder and salt. In a large bowl toss the tomatoes and onions with half of the olive oil, and half the zatar mixture until well coated. Spread the vegetables evenly on a sheet tray lined with parchment or a silicon baking mat.
- In the empty bowl, toss the pita strips with the remaining oil and zatar mixture until well coated and spread on a separate baking sheet.
- Slide both sheets into the oven. Roast the pita chips for 10 minutes, and the tomatoes and onions for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- For the lemon zest vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, zest, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper until well combined.
- To assemble the salad: In a large serving bowl, toss the lettuce, feta, and cucumber with the lemon zest vinaigrette. Top the salad with the roasted tomatoes, red onions, pita chips, and fresh mint. Serve immediately.
Notes:
- All the parts of this salad can be made ahead and assembled immediately prior to eating. The pita chips keep in a sealed container for 2 days. They are a great snack on their own.
Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread
Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread is the result of a food fight, one which resulted in this delicious hybrid dish somewhere between Baba Ganoush and Hummus. Our food disagreement started with a vague plan for a Mediterranean inspired meal, but quickly morphed into a debate about the true king of dips. On the one hand, the dusky sweet flavors of Baba Ganoush appealed to Paul, whereas I had a strong inclination towards classic hummus, a creamy chickpea puree, perked up with garlic and lemon. In the end, we were pretty pleased with our compromise dish, Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread, a transcendent dip with an eggplant and chickpea base, infused with roasted garlic and onions, and the smoky spiciness of charred jalapeno.
Moroccan Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
In a holiday season notorious for sweet potato casseroles topped with marshmallows and candied nuts, we play it unconventional. We love the warm spices and fresh herbs of this Moroccan Roasted Sweet Potato Salad. A fragrant dish with a nod towards North African seasonings, the sweet potatoes are roasted until they are lightly crisped, flavored with an aromatic, garlic, and lemon infused Charmoula vinaigrette, and topped with feta, cilantro and pomegranate. Charmoula is a traditional Moroccan, Tunisian, and Algerian marinade that is traditionally used in fish and vegetable dishes. Moroccan Roasted Sweet Potato Salad is a winner with guests and an unusual twist on the seasonal sweet potato.
Slow Cooker Lentil Salad with Roasted Squash
Research shows that taste and smell work together to help guide our perception of the flavor of food. Food without scent, is a large part of why I find the flu season so gastronomically depressing. Anytime you need to blow your nose to taste your steak, you know things are getting desperate. In this light, the old school slow cooker becomes a brilliant device: an aromatizer and purveyor of olfactory delight. Because who doesn't love the smell of cooking food when you come home from work starving? This fall, I found a clever slow cooker technique for French lentil salad. Our Slow Cooker Lentil Salad with Roasted Squash has a traditional French Dijon style vinaigrette, is garnished with a flurry of cheese, herbs and nuts, and with a nod towards fall, accompanied by caramelized roasted Delicata Squash. Do not hesitate to use bold flavors in this salad, a lentil under seasoned is a truly woeful thing.
Grilled Greek Salad
Grilling is our cooking method of choice for these early summer days, but it's not all about the meat. Actually, our summer diet has tilted vegetarian since we started making this Grilled Greek Salad. I dreamt up this colorful dish in the colder months, with longings of summer. This salad knocked our socks off and had my meat loving husband requesting more. We made Grilled Greek Salad through bitter March sleet, April winds, and May rains. And now finally, with seasonal vegetables and balmy temperatures, we can grill in the sunshine. Unlike some grilled salads, this isn't grilling for cuteness. Grilled Greek Salad is a hefty, hearty entree salad, that relies on the grill to give the peppers, onions, and tomatoes their luscious char, and to add caramel sweetness to tangy halloumi cheese. Topped with kalamata olives and a tart lemon-zest vinaigrette for contrast, this salad is dynamic. Halloumi, for those not familiar, is a hard salty sheep-milk cheese from Cyrpus, a great cooking cheese that keeps its shape and texture at high heats.
Potato Beet Salad
The days are hot, school is out, the grill is fired up, and it's potato salad season. We're adding some color to ours today with a Haitian variation of Potato Beet Salad. Potatoes and beets are a lovely earthy combination with some parsley, and pickled red onions, this is great mellow tasting accompaniment to your early summer grilling. Check out other non-traditional potato salad variations: moroccan roasted sweet potato salad, grilled potato salad with jalapeno, bacon & blue cheese & tuscan potato salad.
