Whenever I find myself in a Mexican style restaurant, I can pretty
much guarantee I'll be ordering one of two things. Not that I don't like
most of the foods but, you know how it is with favorites. If my
willpower is strong, I'll order chicken fajitas
and stay away from the rice. But let's be clear that what I really want
is one of those salads in the fried tortilla bowls. And we all know
that, although the term salad implies healthy, it's really one big,
seriously delicious indulgence.
So I decided to see if I could
turn my favorite Mexican indulgence into a healthier Middle Eastern
treat and I totally succeeded! Toasting a pita in the shape of a bowl is
basically a form of homemade pita chips.
All the great flavor without the deep frying. I filled it with
vegetables and nutritious chickpeas and called it lunch. Seriously
delicious lunch!
Ingredients
- 2 Pitas
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon za'atar
- 1 Cup baby spinach (or other salad green)
- 2 Tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1/4 Red onion, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 English (seedless) cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 Cup za'atar roasted chickpeas (recipe follows)
- 1/4 Cup tahini za'atar vinaigrette (recipe follows)
- Za'atar Roasted Chickpeas
- 1 Cup chickpeas (canned is fine but drained and rinsed)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon za'atar
- Tahini Za'atar Vinaigrette
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon prepared tahini sauce
- 1/2 Teaspoon za'atar
Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a small bowl, toss the
chickpeas with the tablespoon of olive oil and the 1/2 teaspoon of
za'atar. Spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You
can make the pita bowls at the same time.
Rub both pitas with the
tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle evenly with the 1/2 teaspoon of
za'atar. Microwave for 20 seconds to make them pliable. To form the
bowl, drape them over a small, oven safe bowl or even the back of a
muffin tin cup.
If you have nothing like that, you can also form
balls out of aluminum foil and drape the pitas over them. Bake both the
chickpeas and pitas for 12 minutes.
While the pita and chickpeas
are in the oven, make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil,
lemon juice, tahini and za'atar.
When the pita bowls have cooled
off enough to handle, assemble the salads by adding equal amounts of the
baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion and roasted chickpeas to
each pita bowl. Top with the vinaigrette.
By Anita Schecter
Middle Eastern Food Expert
