Pita Bread Salad With Cucumber Mint And Feta Recipes

PITA-BREAD SALAD WITH CUCUMBER, MINT, AND FETA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pita squares in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until they are nicely crisp, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar and olive oil, and season with salt.
• In a medium salad bowl, combine toasted pita bread, celery, and cucumber; add vinegar mixture, and toss well to combine. Just before serving, add mint and watercress; gently toss again. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top, and season with pepper.

GREEK SALAD PITA SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Whisk olive oil and red wine vinegar in large bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Mix tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, radishes, and parsley into dressing. Stir in feta cheese. DO AHEAD: Salad can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.
• Using slotted spoon, transfer salad mixture to pita bread halves. Serve sandwiches immediately.

CUCUMBER, MINT & FETA SALAD WITH TOASTED PITA

Steps:

• First preheat your oven to 350 degress F.
• Spread your pita squares in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until they are nice and crisp, approx 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven.
• In a small bowl, whisk together your vinegar, oil, and salt.
• In a medium salad bowl, combine your pita, celery, and cucumber, and then add vinegar mixture and toss well to combine.
• Just before serving, add mint and watercress and gently toss.
• Sprinkle feta cheese over the top and season with pepper.

PITA BREAD

Steps:

• You will need a large bread bowl, a rolling pin, and unglazed quarry tiles or several baking sheets, or alternatively a castiron or other heavy skillet or griddle at least 9 inches in diameter.
• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large bread bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, then 1 cup white flour. Stir 100 times (one minute) in the same direction to activate the gluten in the flour. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes or as long as 2 hours.
• Sprinkle salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add white flour, one cup at a time. When the dough is too stiff to stir, turn it out onto a lightly floured bread board and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Return the dough to a lightly oiled bread bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least double in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours. Gently punch down. Dough can be made ahead to this point and then stored, covered, in the refrigerator for 5 days or less.
• If at this time you want to save the dough in the refrigerator for baking later, simply wrap it in a plastic bag that is at least three times the size of the dough, pull the bag together, and secure it just at the opening of the bag. This will give the dough a chance to expand when it is in the refrigerator (which it will do). From day to day, simply cut off the amount of dough you need and keep the rest in the refrigerator, for up to one week. The dough will smell slightly fermented after a few days, but this simply improves the taste of the bread. Dough should be brought to room temperature before baking.
• This amount of dough will make approximately 16 pitas if rolled out into circles approximately 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4-inch thick. You can also of course make smaller breads. Size and shape all depend on you, but for breads of this dimension the following baking tips apply:
• Place unglazed quarry tiles, or a large baking stone or two baking sheets, on a rack in the bottom third of your oven, leaving a one inch gap all around to allow air to circulate. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide dough in half, then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide dough into eight equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter. You may wish to roll out all eight before starting to bake. Cover rolled out breads, but do not stack.
• Bake 2 at a time (or more if your oven is larger) directly on quarry tiles or baking sheets. Bake each bread for 3 or 4 minutes, until the bread has gone into a full "balloon" or until it is starting to turn lightly golden, whichever happens first. If there are seams or dry bits of dough - or for a variety of other reasons - your bread may not go into a full "balloon". Don't worry, it will still taste great. The more you bake pitas the more you will become familiar with all the little tricks and pitfalls, and your breads will more consistently "balloon." But even then, if you're like us, it won't always "balloon" fully and you won't mind because the taste will still be wonderful. When baked, remove, place on a rack for about five minutes to let cool slightly, then wrap breads in a large kitchen towel (this will keep the breads soft). When first half of the dough has been rolled out and baked, repeat for rest of dough, or store in refrigerator for later use, as described above. You can also divide the dough into more, smaller pieces if you wish, to give you smaller breads.

FRIED FETA GREEK SALAD PITAS

Steps:

• Combine the olives, cucumbers, red pepper and onion in a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, a big pinch of salt and some black pepper and toss to combine. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator while you make the feta.
• For the feta, prepare a dredging station. In a rimmed dish, add the flour. In a separate rimmed dish, whisk the egg with a splash of water. In a third separate dish, whisk together the breadcrumbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few turns of black pepper. Coat each chunk of feta in the flour and tap off the excess. Dunk in the beaten egg and then coat in the breadcrumbs, tapping off the excess.
• Heat a 1/4-inch layer of olive oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. (Test to see if it is hot enough by sprinkling a bit of breadcrumb in the oil. If it sizzles right away, it's ready.) Carefully place the breaded feta cubes in the oil and fry in batches for 90 seconds to 2 minutes on the first side, undisturbed. Flip and fry on the other side for another minute or so, or until golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack set over a baking sheet and allow excess oil to drain. Repeat until all pieces are fried.
• To serve, slice open each pita and create a pocket. Schmear a big plop of hummus inside each one, followed by some arugula. Top with a pile of the Greek salad, a few chunks of the warm, fried feta, a dollop of yogurt and a few pieces of mint. Serve with lemon wedges and hot sauce, if desired.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the water, sugar and yeast just to dissolve. Add the oil and salt and then gradually add the flour. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix for 7 to 10 minutes, adding just enough additional flour so that the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Do not add too much flour. The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky. Lightly coat a clean large bowl with oil or cooking spray, then place the dough in the bowl and turn it once or twice to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
• Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Mold each piece into a ball by stretching the top and tucking the edges under. Place the balls 1 inch apart on a piece of parchment paper, cover them with plastic wrap and let them rise for 30 minutes.
• Set an oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• With a rolling pin, roll out the balls of dough into 6-inch circles. Place them on the baking sheets and bake for about 5 minutes, or until they're puffy and just starting to brown.

FETA, CUCUMBER AND SPINACH PITA SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Mix yogurt, garlic and cayenne in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)
• Mix cucumber, sun-dried tomatoes, green onion, mint, vinegar and oil in large bowl. Stir in spinach and feta cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let stand while preparing pita bread.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap pita breads in foil. Place in oven until heated through, about 10 minutes. Fill pita halves with cucumber mixture. Spoon some of yogurt dressing into each pita half. Serve, passing remaining yogurt dressing separately.

PITA BREAD SALAD WITH TOMATOES AND CUCUMBER (FATTOUSH) RECIPE - (4/5)

Steps:

• 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Using kitchen shears, cut around perimeter of each pita and separate into 2 thin rounds. Cut each round in half. Place pitas, smooth side down, on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Brush 3 tablespoons oil over surface of pitas. (Pitas do not need to be uniformly coated. Oil will spread during baking.) Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake until pitas are crisp and pale golden brown, 10 to 14 minutes. Set aside to cool. (Cooled pitas can be stored in zipper-lock bag for 24 hours.) 2. While pitas toast, whisk lemon juice, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in small bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes. 3. Place tomatoes, cucumber, arugula, cilantro, mint, and scallions in large bowl. Break pitas into 1/2-inch pieces and place in bowl with vegetables. Add lemon-garlic mixture and remaining 1/4 cup oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

TRADITIONAL PITA BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in salt and enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Do not let rise. , Divide dough into six pieces; knead each for 1 minute. Roll each into a 5-in. circle. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 500°. , Place upside down on greased baking sheets. Bake until puffed and lightly browned, 5-10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.