When I first posted about this salad from Nadia G, I made it more or less the way she did, with Mshalale – a Lebanese string cheese – but substituted parsley for the mint, and dried cherries for the pomegranate seeds.
This time, I’ve kept the parsley and the dried cherries, but substituted feta cheese for the mshalale.
Still a nice, refreshingly different take on fruit salad. Check it out.
INGREDIENTS
Lemon Pita Chips:
•1 large fresh pita
•1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
•1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
•Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
•Aleppo pepper
Lemon Dressing:
•4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
•2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
•Freshly ground black pepper
•Small pinch brown sugar
Salad:
•1/4 cup sunflower seeds
•Handful fresh parsley, minced
•1 cup blueberries
•1 cup dried cherries
•1/2 cup feta cheese
First, make the chips by brushing one side of pita bread (here’s a good recipe for home made) with olive oil and fresh lemon juice, then sprinkle with sea salt, black pepper, and Aleppo pepper (or crushed red pepper, if you can’t find Aleppo).
Toast in a pre-heated 400º oven for five to ten minutes, until golden and crispity. I always make extra of these because they are so darned tasty to just munch on plain – or with a schmear of nicely seasoned feta cheese spread.
Set aside to cool.
Make the dressing by whisking the lemon juice, olive oil, black pepper and brown sugar – or do as I do and just give it all a good whizzz with your immersion blender.
To make the salad, combine the blueberries, dried cherries, parsley, sunflower seeds, and feta cheese together in a large bowl.
Crumble a couple of the toasted pita bread over all, then drizzle with the vinaigrette and set aside to rest for ten minutes to let the bread soak up some of the dressing.
Serve.
Who says fruit salad has to come from a can or include tiny marshmallows?