Fennel and Celery Salad

I bought my very first bulb of fennel recently.  I had big plans for it, but I could never find the other ingredients needed for what was admittedly a very strange recipe.  So, there it sat in my refrigerator, this giant bulb of fennel which I had never cooked with and had no plans for.  Then one night I needed a vegetable side for a pasta dish (coming up next!), and I spied the lonely sad bulb.  A quick search on Pinterest led me to this fennel and celery salad, and this the fennel was saved from a sure rotting death in the back of the fridge.

It couldn't be easier to make this salad: thinly slice celery and fennel (I used my mandoline to get them ultra thin) and dress them with parsley, olive oil and lemon juice, with pine nuts and shaved parmesan.  I actually left out the cheese and pine nuts because I didn't have either one on hand, but I look forward to trying it with those next  time!  Even without them, the salad was really good!  The fennel is slightly sweet (almost a faint taste of licorice) but the lemon cuts it nicely.  It's fresh and bright and crunchy and so much more exciting than anything with lettuce, which is the world's most boring vegetable and the reason I hate most salads.  By the way - the lack of lettuce means this salad can actually stay good for a few days!

Don't be scared of fennel!  Don't ignore it at the grocery store and don't let it hide in the back of your vegetable bin.  Let it star in a salad and you won't regret giving it a chance.

Recipe:

fennel and celery salad
from Platings and Pairings
serves 4

Ingredients:
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 large fennel bulb, sliced very thin
6 celery stalks, sliced very thin
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons good quality olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 ounces shaved parmesan

Instructions:

1) Toss fennel, celery, pine nuts, and parsley with lemon juice and olive oil.

2) Season with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with shaved parmesan.

Fresh Corn Salad

I know, I know.  Fresh corn is sort of over since it's now October.  But back in late August, it was still glorious.  Mom, Rachael and I went to Idylwilde Farm in Acton, which is a place that makes me wish I was rich.  It's a farm stand that goes beyond veggies (although the ones they have are gorgeous, as you can see below).  They also make sandwiches, soups, pies, Chinese food, salads, pasta dishes, casseroles... you name it.  I had a to-die-for Caprese sandwich there, and we also grabbed a free sample of corn salad.  It was so simple, and yet so delicious.  What I could see were fresh corn kernels and scallions, and that was about all I could taste, too; it was fresh, bright, sweet, and let the corn be the star.

I decided to recreate it at home with some of their corn.  I know, who am I, right?  "I'm going to make my own recipe."  I never say that.  But I did say it, and I did it, too.  It was so simple, even I could figure it out.  I decided not to cook the corn because all summer long, adding fresh corn to dishes was sort of my thing.  I like to leave it sweet and poppy.  Then I dressed it as simply as possible with a tiny bit of olive oil.  You could add honey if you want to make more of a sweet dressing, but again, I wanted the corn to be the rock star of the dish.  I couldn't ignore the scallions, and salt and pepper were a must. Then I was done.  And this dish was devoured faster than you could believe (almost faster than it was to make it, which is very fast since it's one step!).  It tastes like summer.  I hope you remember it next summer when corn comes back in season! :(

Recipe:

fresh corn salad
a Bridget Cooking original, inpired by Idylwilde Farm's salad
serves 4

Ingredients:
3 - 4 ears of corn, kernels removed from cobs
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
3 scallions, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Serve room temperature or cold.

Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes

Thinking about this salad still makes me laugh.  While I thought it was pretty delicious, I will be honest with you and share the following text conversation I had with Kenzie about it:

So clearly this pasta salad isn't for everyone.  But truly I don't understand why!  The roasted tomatoes in this salad are incredible, and please do not skip the step of roasting them yourself.  They are still juicy and incredibly sweet, and definitely the best part of the salad.  But there are also crunchy toasted pine nuts (which Kenzie hates apparently, who knew?), salty olives, fresh basil, and the salty salad cheese of your choice (I used feta).  You also make your own oregano salad dressing for it, which I will admit was a tiny bit strong (maybe a little too much lemon and vinegar for my liking), but still flavorful and delicious nevertheless.

If you try this recipe out, please let me know how it goes.  It was split here between Kenz and I, and I'd love for someone to break the tie.  Has there ever been a recipe like that in your house, where one person loves it and someone else thinks it's "honestly disgusting?" :)

Recipe:

pasta salad with roasted tomatoes
from Smitten Kitchen
serves 8

Ingredients:
for roasted tomatoes:
4 cups grape tomatoes
olive oil
salt
for oregano dressing:
1 big or 2 small cloves garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
for salad:
1 pound dried pasta, cooked until 1 - 2 minutes before doneness and drained
6 ounces crumbles salty cheese, such as ricotta salt, feta, quest fresco, etc.
1/2 cup pine nuts, well-toasted and cooled
1/2 cup pitted and rough-chopped olives of your choice (I used kalamata)
salt and pepper
handful fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Instructions:

1) Roast tomatoes.  Heat oven to 300 degrees.  Cover 1 to 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.  Cut each small tomato in half lengthwise and arrange cut side up in a single layer on prepared sheets.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Bake in oven for approximately 90 minutes, until somewhat shriveled and dry to the touch, but not fully dehydrated.  Set aside until needed, letting them cool.  Note: if your pine nuts aren't toasted yet, you can place them in the oven for the last 10 minutes, shaking them once or twice for even coloring.  Let cool as well before using.

2) Make dressing: roughly chop the garlic on a cutting board, then add oregano, salt and a few grinds of black pepper.  Mince the mixture with your knife until it's a grainy herb paste.  Transfer to a small bowl, whisk in lemon juice and vinegar, then slowly drizzle in oil, whisking the whole time.  Taste and adjust as needed.

3) Assemble salad: in a giant bowl, place drained pasta, roasted tomatoes, cheese, pine nuts, and olives, and toss gently to combine.  Add dressing to taste, along with any extra salt and pepper needed.  Finish with basil.  Salad can be eaten right away, but will keep in the fridge up to 3 days.

Strawberry Quinoa Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

This salad has a little bit of everything, which is the only way I like salads.  There are strawberries, goat cheese and ginger, quinoa and pearl couscous, fresh basil and sliced almonds.  How's that for variety?  I added some baby spinach leaves just for fun.  Add to this mix an orange vinaigrette made with the juice and zest from fresh oranges, and you've got yourself a serious summertime meal.  Mark was a big fan of this and may or may not have polished off the huge leftover container after work one night.

This salad was all you need for a healthy, protein-rich meal when you want something cool to eat.  The next time you spend your day in a 90-degree classroom (true story), this might be what you crave. Yes, you'll have to cook the quinoa and couscous, but you could always do that on a cool rainy day (like today) and toss them into the salad later this week when it heats up :)

Recipe:

strawberry quinoa salad with orange vinaigrette 
from Cooking Quinoa
serves 6

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered
1/2 cup red quinoa (I used white and it was fine)
1/2 cup pearl couscous
5 -7 basil leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
4 ounces crumbled herbed goat cheese
1/4 cup sliced almonds
for dressing:
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Instructions:

1) For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl.  Set aside.

2) Cook quinoa and couscous according to the package.  Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and allow it to cool.

3) Add the strawberries and basil to the dressing.  Toss with vinaigrette until well coated.  Season to taste.  Place in the refrigerator for serval hours to let the flavors develop.  Don't worry if you're short on time - I skipped this step.

4) When ready to serve, add cheese and almonds
.

Oven "Fried" Breaded Pork Chops

These pork chops were interesting.  I never like making meat, but with my plastic gloves on, even I have to admit that the process of breading and then baking these little guys wasn't too bad.  It was quick and easy, as far as meat goes.  They are kind of like a healthier, low-fat version of Shake and Bake (apparently.  I've obviously never tried either!): only 378 calories per chop.

The pork chops are dipped into egg, and then into a mixture of crunchy panko and crushed cornflakes flavored with parmesan, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder and pepper.  They are then baked, not fried, but they still come out golden brown and crunchy on the outside.  The inside, of course, is juicy and flavorful while the outside packs it own punch.  I wasn't among the crew who gave them a shot, but everyone else was a big fan.  It almost made trimming the pork chops worth it ;)

I am not going to give it its own post, but I do want to share the salad I served with these pork chops. I had a most of a head of cabbage left from another recipe and no clue what to with it.  I did some research and decided to shred the cabbage and toss with with some olive oil, lemon juice and a clove of minced garlic.  It was so bizarrely delicious, I even got Nick to eat it.  It was bright and peppery and crunchy and tangy... and honestly I ate forkfuls of it out of the Tupperware for days after when I was looking for a snack.  If you're going to try the pork, at least promise me you will try the cabbage too.

Recipe:

oven "fried" breaded pork chops
from SkinnyTaste
serves 6

Ingredients:

1) 6 3/4-inch thick center cut boneless pork chops, fat trimmed (5 ounces each)
kosher salt
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup panko crumbs
1/3 cup crushed cornflake crumbs
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a large nonstick baking sheet lightly with oil.

2) Season pork chops on both sides with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.  Combine panko, cornflake crumbs, parmesan cheese, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and black pepper in a large shallow bowl.

3) Place the beaten egg in another bowl.  Dip the pork into the egg, then crumb mixture.  Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chops.

4) Lightly spray a little more oil on top of the pork and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Serve with cabbage salad!

Chopped Brown Rice Salad with Grapes and Pecans

Two posts in one day?  Yup, that's what happens on a weekend when Mark is working both days and I am trying to avoid housework and homework :)

Anyway... speaking of things you don't expect, here's a great salad!  As you know, I'm not a big fan of salads.  I love vegetables, but most salads don't do it for me.  They are boring.  Plus I think I hate lettuce, so if lettuce has to be the star of the show, then it's a show that I don't want to see.  Something else has to be in the spotlight.

In this salad, the spotlight is on juicy, sweet grapes, which are unexpected in a chopped salad where everything is all savory and salty and tangy.  Then there's brown rice, which gives the salad some interesting texture and chewy bites, along with pecans, which happen to be my favorite nut.  The recipe calls for ricotta salata, but that's clearly a cheese that I didn't have on hand, so feta was a good substitute.  A mustard vinaigrette ties it all together.  And yeah, there's lettuce.  But the lettuce is more of a backup singer than the main actor, and so it's okay.

I was actually surprised how much my family liked this salad.  I brought it over to my mother's one day when they were grilling last month.  Mark and my mom especially liked it; Mark happily devoured the leftovers for days.  For any salad to grab my attention, and the attentions of those two, you know it's got to be something special.  It's a good salad for this time of year; grapes are still good, and pecans are so fall-early-winter-ish, and brown rice is just always awesome.  So this is a recipe you probably want to hang on to.  These next couple months are full of times when you are going to binge on unhealthy things, and you just may want a salad to help you detox after that!

Recipe:

chopped brown rice salad with grapes and pecans
from The Kitchn
serves 6 - 8

Ingredients:

For the salad:
1 cup brown rice, long- or short-grained
1 cup whole pecans
1 heart of romaine
2 cups red grapes
1 cup crumbled ricotta salata

For the vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1) Bring a 2-quart pan of water to a boil. Add the rice and a teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is chewy and cooked through. Drain and set aside.

2) While the rice is cooking, heat the oven to 350°F and spread the nuts on a baking sheet. Roast the nuts in the oven for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until toasted a darker shade of brown and very fragrant. When cool enough to handle, transfer the nuts to a cutting board and roughly chop. Set aside.

3) Slice the hard of romaine down its length into quarters and then chop each quarter cross-wise into thin slices. Slice the grapes into quarters.

4) To make the vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, olive oil, brown mustard, a healthy pinch of salt, and a few cracks of black pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine, taste, and adjust any of the ingredients to taste as needed.

5) Combine the cooked rice, chopped pecans, chopped romaine, and grapes in a large mixing bowl. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad mix. Stir and toss the salad until all the ingredients are evenly coated. Stir in the crumbled ricotta salata, reserving a few crumbles to sprinkle over the top of the dish. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed.

6) Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the reserved ricotta salata. Leftovers will keep for about 5 days refrigerated.

Southwestern Farro Salad

I go through blogger phases.  When I discover someone that I like and trust, I binge on their recipes for a while.  You know it's true.  How many times have I talked about A Couple Cooks, Annie's Eats or The Pioneer Woman?  Well, get ready for a mini binge on Elly Says Opa.

 Elly is a great blogger and cook with a Greek heritage, so lots of her recipes are Greek (like that weirdly delicious semolina  cake), but there are also plenty of other things thrown in there, as you are about to see.  I've made a few of her recipes throughout the past few years, but lately she's just been reading my mind and posting recipes that are perfect for me.

For example, she must have realized that, since my lovely broccoli and cheese farro casserole, I've been dying to try farro again, so she came up with this southwestern farro salad.  She even talked about how it was a great thing to bring to work, and it happened to be right when school started up again and needed to start thinking about work lunches.  She also says it's full of protein from the farro and beans, without adding any meat; you know I love that.  Plus, and most importantly - this salad is delicious.

First of all, any time a recipe calls for pepitas, I get exited; those little crunchy gems are among my favorite seeds!  Plus, they get toasted for a little while so they're extra crunchy (just don't add them into your salad too early if you're trying to make it ahead of time; they do lose their crunchiness!) Then there is corn, black beans, and tomatoes - you've got yourself a little southwestern vegetable flair going there.  The dressing is a mix of apple cider vinegar, light sour cream, and the juice of a lime.  The sour cream makes the dressing creamy (but still healthy!) and the lime juice is just tart enough to make all the other flavors pop.  Add some cilantro and monterrey jack cheese (oh yeah!) into the farro-y mix, and voila: a wonderful salad that is healthy but filling, good as a side or as a main dish.  Mark and I were a little bit obsessed with this salad.  We may or may not have eaten it for days at work, scraping the leftover container clean quicker than we expected.  If you're not sure about farro, this is the recipe to win you over.

Recipe:

southwestern farro salad
from Elly Says Opa

Ingredients:
1 cup dry farro
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 tablespoons pepitas
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn
1 medium tomato, cored, seeded and diced, or 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 ounces monterrey jack, pepper jack, or cheddar cheese
handful of chopped cilantro
for dressing:
1 small jalapeño, finely minced (I skipped this)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons light sour cream
1 tablespoons canola or olive oil

Instructions:

1) Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add the farro.  Cook for 15 - 20 minutes (it should still have some chew to it).  Drain the farro, return it to the empty pot, and cover with a lid.  Allow to steam for 10 minutes.  Then place in a large bowl so it can start to cool.

2) Meanwhile, heat the canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add the pepitas and cook 1 - 2 minutes or until golden.  Be careful - if your oil is too hot, they have a tendency to pop right out of the pan.  Set aside.

3)  To make the dressing, whisk together the jalapeño, vinegar, lime juice, and sour cream.  Then slowly add the oil, while continuing to whisk.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4) To the bowl with the farro, add the pepitas, black beans, corn, tomatoes, cheese, cilantro, and a little salt and pepper.  Pour the dressing over the farro mixture ,stirring lightly to combine all the ingredients and distribute the dressing evenly.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mix and Match Bread Salad

You know me: if I am going to tell you that I like a salad, chances are it's more than just lettuce and tomatoes.  I am really not a fan of regular salads (I think because I am not the biggest fan of lettuce itself).  However, this recipe, which was in my July/August edition of Food Network Magazine, intrigued me.  First of all, it has bread in it.  That immediately makes anything better in my book.


Second, it wasn't a recipe so much as a Choose Your Own Adventure story.  Remember those books? They left the character's choices up to you, and you'd flip to a certain page in the book once you made your choice?  Those were fun.  This is similarly fun.  There are only 5 steps, but 3 out of the 5 are options for you to choose what you like!  You get to choose the type of bread, your mix-ins, and your protein.  The only standards are the base and the dressing.  So basically every time you make this salad, it could be totally different.

I made it one day that we were having Mark's parents over for dinner.  Everyone liked it, but Mark really did.  In fact, I am pretty sure he finished it for breakfast one morning, which is very weird but whatever, at least he liked it!  Similar to yesterday's salad, I think this one is best eaten right away when the bread cubes are still crunchy, but hey, Mark would vouch for it for breakfast the next day :)

In case you're curious our choices were ciabatta for the bread, and our mix-ins were olives, artichoke hearts and arugula.  Our protein was white beans :)  What choices are you going to try for this mix and match salad?

Recipe:

mix and match bread salad
from July/August edition of Food Network Magazine, 2014

1) Choose a bread:

• sourdough
• Italian
• ciabatta
• baguette
• focaccia
• olive bread
• pocketless pita

Cut your choice of bread into 1-inch cubes to make 8 cups.  Stale bread works best; if yours is fresh, spread the cubes on baking sheets and toast in a 400-degree oven, 8 to 10 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl.

2) Make the base.
Cut 2 pounds tomatoes into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups).  Toss with the bread.  Add up to 1 cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley, basil, mint, and/or chives).

3) Add your mix-ins:
Prepare 1 cup each; choose up to 3.  Add to the bowl.

• bell peppers, diced
• oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped (up to 1/2 cup)
• frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and halved
• olives, pitted (up to 1/2 cup)
• celery, sliced
• baby greens (spinach, arugula, or kale)
• hearts of palm, drained and sliced
• cucumbers, sliced
• roasted red peppers, drained and chopped (up to 1/2 cup)
• vidalia or red onion, thinly sliced

4) Pick a protein:

Add up to 1 cup total (optional):

• canned tuna, drained and flaked
• salami, cut into strips
• steak, cooked and thinly sliced
• rotisserie chicken, chopped
• hard-cooked eggs, chopped
• bacon or pancetta, cooked and crumbled
• cheese (feta, goat, cheddar or mozzarella), crumbled or diced
• deli meat (ham, roast beef, or smoked turkey), chopped
• canned chickpeas or white beans, rinsed

5) Dress the salad.

Whisk 1/4 cup red or white vinegar and 1 teaspoon dijon mustard in a bowl.  Slowly whisk in 3/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest.  Drizzle over the salad and toss.  The salad can be made up to 4 hours ahead.

Crunchy Asian Ramen Noodle Salad

Okay guys, listen up.  This is arguably one of the best recipes I have made.  There are plenty of times I gush about a recipe, but then I never ever make it again.  Maybe it's because it wasn't that great, or because it was pretty good but I find repeating recipes boring sometimes.  But this salad? ( And it's a salad!  I hate salads!)  It is not only delicious and wildly popular with everyone who has tried it, but I love it so much that I have made it four times.  That never happens, trust me.  The Four Time Recipe Repeat Club is limited to fluffernutter cookies, spinach and ricotta stuffed shells,  apple cider caramels, bagels, baked Alaska, chocolate crinkle cookies, and roasted vegetable chickpea salad.  It's a very elite club; the recipe just has to be fabulous.  And right now I have all the ingredients to make this salad in my fridge.  Enough to make it twice.  So: let's get to this salad.

Caitlin had a party for Josh's birthday back in June and one of her friends brought a salad with Ramen noodles crumbled into it.  I ate so much of it, it was embarrassing.  Then I immediately hit up Google when I got home to try to find a recipe to recreate it.  I found this one, which was slightly different than Caitlin's friend's salad, but had the addition of chopped avocado and toasted sliced almonds, so I knew it had to be good.

One of the great parts of the salad is how easy it is to put it together.  You briefly toast Ramen noodles and the sliced almonds in the oven while you whip up the most delicious dressing of oil, honey, rice wine vinegar soy sauce, and sesame oil.  Then throw into a bowl a bag of cole slaw mix, the avocado, and some edamame and scallions, and you're done.  The recipe calls for a sliced mango, but I thought that might be taking things to a place that is too weird for my family, and I'm glad I left it out.  This salad is absolutely perfect without it.

PS my countertops are beautiful!

The dressing is sweet and salty, and the textures of the salad are awesome: the soft avocado, the crunch bites of noodle and almond... oh man.  The first time I made this, I happened to have a lot of people over, and everyone was skeptical of my Ramen noodle salad.  But, one by one they all tried it, and one whole bowl (8 servings) disappeared immediately.  I had made it two more times by the end of the week, and it has now become my go-to salad to bring to parties.  Just trust me and make this thing.  One note - it really is best the day you make it; the noodles get a little soft and lose the awesome crunch that makes this salad so fabulous.  Just make it ASAP and you won't regret it.

Recipe:

crunchy Asian Ramen noodle salad
from Gimme Some Oven
serves 8

Ingredients:

1 16-ounce bag coleslaw mix
2 3-ounce packages of Ramen noodles, crumbled (you will not use the seasoning packet)
1 cup shelled and cooked (or frozen and thawed) edamame
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced (optional)
1/2 cup thinly-sliced almonds
1/2 cup thinly-sliced scallions
for Asian honey vinaigrette:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
pinch of salt and black pepper

Instructions:

1) Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Spread the crumbles Ramen noodles and sliced almonds out on a baking sheet and stir a bit to combine.  Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the almonds and noodles are slightly toasted and golden.  Remove baking sheet, and give the mixture a good stir to toss.  Then return it to the oven and toast for an additional 3 minutes.  Keep a very close eye on the mixture so that it doesn't burn.  Remove and set aside.

2)  Make the vinaigrette: whisk together all ingredients until combined.

3) Add ingredients (including the vinaigrette) together in a large bowl and toss until combined.  Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Deconstructed Falafel Salad

I love falafel.  I've made my own baked version numerous times over the last few years.  What's not to like?  Savory little patties of chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, garlic, tahini and lemon juice, baked till they're crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, served inside pitas with plenty of tzatziki.... mmmmm!  So I was very interested when one of the blogs I follow posted a recipe for a deconstructed falafel salad.  The ingredients are the same, but there are no patties, no baking or frying (except to make your own pita chips!), and no sandwich.  All the falafel makings get tossed together with a delicious dressing, and voila: a healthy, protein-packed salad, perfect for a June evening in your new house with your at-the-time almost-husband.  Yeah, this was another meal eaten on the deck, table-less :)

In addition to homemade pita chips and chickpeas, this salad adds to the party some tomatoes and cucumbers, which are excellent additions.  The dressing is made from lemon juice, olive oil and tahini, spiced with cumin and coriander.  And do not think you can leave out the fresh herbs: scallions, parsley, cilantro, and mint.  Are you getting hungry just hearing about these ingredients?

The awesome thing is, this is a salad.  It's so quick to make.  You just have to bake your pita chips (which by the way I ate way too many of before I added them to the salad) and then throw everything else together.  My one warning is that this salad doesn't keep very well if you add the pita chips right to the bowl as the recipe suggests.  Maybe next time, I will let people add their own chips and keep them separate; otherwise they get super mushy and not so appetizing in the refrigerator.  It can be made ahead - just leave out the chips!

Recipe:

deconstructed falafel salad
from Pink Parsley

Ingredients:
3 whole wheat pita pockets (each 6 - 8 inches in diameter)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium lemons
3 tablespoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups halved or quartered grape tomatoes
1 large english cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
4 scallions
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut each pita into 2 rounds.  Using 2 tablespoons total of the oil, lightly brush the pita rounds with the olive oil.  Cut each round into 8 wedges, and arrange in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.  Sprinkle very lightly with salt.  Bake the pita triangles for about 8 minutes, or until they are lightly crisped and beginning to brown.  Allow to cool at least 5 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, juice the lemons into a large bowl (you need about 1/3 cup of juice).  Add the tahini, the remaining tablespoon of oil, the cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, and cayenne if using.  Whisk well to combine.


3)  To the bowl, add the chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, scallions, cilantro, mint, and parsley.  Add the pita chips to the bowl and gently toss to combine everything with the dressing.  Serve immediately.