Mediterranean Pasta Salad

The Greek economy is still in the tank, but their food (and ancient philosophers) are still as delicious as ever!

It's salad week here on Crowdsource My Dinner! Yes, that's right, a whole week devoted to that summertime classic, the salad.

Of course, some people have really nailed that healthy eating thing, and they eat salads year round (complete with pomegranate seeds in the winter).  For me, salads are a summertime/ when I am visiting my mom kind of thing, and here in North Carolina we cracked 80 degrees on the thermometer so summer has officially started!  In the summer, produce is not only abundant, it tastes much better than it does at other times in the year, so its a perfect time to shove antioxidants into your belly.

The inaugural salad for salad week is this refreshing yet substantial Mediterranean pasta salad. I love Greek food (evidenced by the Pita bread, Tabouli, and Gyros recipes), but its not a flavor profile that I have a ton of experience creating.  This pasta salad was an easy way for me to experiment with the elements of Greek food that I love without worrying that my technique wasn't exactly perfect.  And I loaded the salad with meat because that's really the only way to make a pasta dish filling.

When I was a kid, my dad would eat my mom's chicken pasta salad with a large serving spoon because he felt it was the only way it would fill him up.  Being my father's daughter, I am always skeptical when someone mentions a "filling salad."  As a result, I will make no such claims here, but I will mention that after eating this, I did not eat again for six hours, and I did not even cry about it one time.

I will, however, claim that this salad is delicious.  The chicken is bursting with flavor, and the flavors of the Mediterranean are vibrant enough to wake up any tired palate.  I loved incorporating the different and alliterative vegetables into this meal: crisp Kale, crunchy cucumbers, robust roasted red (peppers), oily olives, odiferous onions, aromatic artichokes and perfect pasta.

In all seriousness, pasta salad is a great way to enjoy the vibrant flavors of Greece.  I made sure to use a wide variety of vegetables to be sure that the salad had sweet, briny, crunchy and potent elements.  The result was flavorful juicy roasted chicken paired with al dente farfalle tossed in a citrus vinagrette and then married with the medley of vegetable flavors.  What could be better on a summer afternoon?

Maybe it's not quite summer where you live.  Well, you can feel free to enjoy this anyhow, because this little guy will bring you a little bit of sunshine.

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Mediterranean Pasta Salad

by Hannah Rounds April-28-2014

The vibrant flavors of Greece in a pasta salad. Adding feta cheese would be a wonderful addition.

Ingredients

• 1 Pound Farfalle Pasta- Cooked Al Dente
• 1.5 Cups Shredded Chicken Breast
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika
• 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Rosemary
• 1/2 Teaspoon Oregano
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Small Red Onion- Thinly Sliced
• 1 Roasted Red Pepper- Sliced
• 6 Ounces Black Olives- Sliced
• 2 Ounces Marinated Artichokes- Sliced
• 1/2 Cucumber- Peeled and Sliced
• 1 Cup Kale
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/2 Lemon Lemon Juice
• 3 Cloves Pressed Garlic
• 1 Teaspoon Sugar

Instructions

1. Cook and cool pasta. Add a bit of olive oil to prevent it from becoming sticky.2. In a small frying pan, heat a small amount of olive oil. Add chicken and spices. Cook until chicken is heated through.3. Whisk together Olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and sugar to create a dressing.4. Toss pasta, chicken and dressing in a large salad bowl5. Add all vegetables to the top of the salad and gently stir them in. Try really hard to keep all the olives from not dropping to the bottom of the bowl.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 1 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 4 Servings

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Greek Pulled Pork Pitas

Where did Caeser keep his armies? Up his sleevies!

How could I possibly resist the joke- I am after all talking about Greece and that is probably in my top three jokes of all time. (Interestingly, nobody has told me to quit my day job to go into a comedy career).

All jokes aside, this is one of the best homemade sandwiches that I've ever made.  I daresay, it surpasses food truck fare, and you know its getting serious when I say that.  

When I cooked the pork I used warmer aromatics like allspice, cinnamon and oregano to highlight the flavor of the pork without overwhelming it with spice.  Tomatoes, cucumbers and onions brought a fresh crunch to the party, and the sweet and tangy notes of the tzatziki sauce rounded out the flavor profile to make a rich and satisfying meal.  And that's before I've even begun to wax poetic about the virtues of the homemade pita bread.

If you are ever going to make one item from this blog, this is the one I recommend.  You can play with the proportions to your liking, but you are not going to regret eating this.

This recipe really started a few years ago, when the newly married Mad Scientis and I went onto a bit of a Greek food kick that started by eating Mousaka from Christos in Minneapolis.

Not taken at Christos, but we look so cute that I couldn't resist.

That Mousaka was the food of the Gods (contrary to popular belief they eat Mousaka not pomegranate and nectar), and I've never been able to recreate it well.  It seems like I can never get my proportions of eggplant to beef correct.  The Mousaka fail hasn't stopped me from trying a wide range of other Greek favorites like Spanikopita, Baklava, Pastisio and now this pita sandwich (which cannot properly called a Gyro but is close enough to fall into the category of Greek food).

As the Mad Scientist says, this one's a keeper!

Tzatziki Sauce

by Hannah Rounds

Easy Tzatziki sauce gives any sandwich, salad, or plate of meat a Greek flair. A more traditional version would use dill instead of oregano, but I guess I don't own any dill.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins  Yield: 2 Cups

Ingredients

• 1.5 Cups Greek Yogurt
• 1 Cucumber- peeled and finely diced
• About half a lemon's worth Lemon Zest
• One Lemon's worth Lemon Juice
• 3 Cloves Garlic Pressed
• 2 Teaspoons Oregano
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• To Taste Salt

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.2. Using either a food processor or an immersion blender, blend until mostly smooth.3. Refridgerate for at least one hour prior to use (keeps about a week in fridge)

Greek Pulled Pork Pitas

by Hannah Rounds

Greek food for the masses. This mock gyro is easy to make and delicious.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 20 mins Yield: 4 Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 2 Homemade Pita sliced in half
• 1 lb Pre-cooked Pulled Pork
• 3/4 Cup Stock or broth
• 1 Teaspoon All Spice
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon Oregano
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Pepper
• 1.5 Roma Tomatoes Sliced
• 1/2 Cucumber Sliced
• 1/4 White Onion Thinly sliced
• To Taste Parsley
• 6 Tablespoons Tzatziki Sauce

Instructions

1. Infuse pork with Greek flavor by reheating it on low in a crockpot or regular pot with stock and all spices for at least 30 minutes (More than one hour in crockpot)2. Spread Meat onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 450 for ten minutes (to add a crisp texture to the pork)3. Layer sandwich ingredients inside pita bread as desired. Be careful not to tear pita bread. Alternatively, you can make these Gyro style by rolling the filling inside a whole pita bread.

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Tabouli Salad

If you thought parsley was a garnish, you've never eaten Tabouli Salad.

Has anyone ever had an experience where they experienced something as an adult which retroactively ruined their childhood.  I had one of those a few months back... Perkins.  Growing up Perkins was sort of a fancy restaurant that we went to with my grandparents or parents after certain events like Piano recitals or basketball games.  (In retrospect, I was a sweaty eleven year old in sweats, so I don't know why I thought of Perkins as fancy).

In my minds eye, Perkins was fancy (the only restaurant from my childhood that had parsley on the plate) and incredibly delicious.  I remember the big juicy burgers and the amazing shakes.

So, when we were driving to Raleigh from Minneapolis, I begged Rob to stop at Perkins for just one meal.  Though he applied to my sensibilities, I insisted. And when we sat down, the table was a little sticky, and there were other crying babies with sticky mouths and the booths were a little sticky too.  My burger was a little overdone, and not really anything special, and I was too carsick to order a shake.

I ruined it.  Perkins is fine, edible, American cuisine, but it was so perfect in my memories that I cannot believe that I would allow myself to sully the past by going into a Perkins restaurant as an adult.

As a parent, I wonder how many more opportunities I will have to retroactively ruin my childhood.  Does the zoo suck? What about water parks?  Are picnics even fun? Is summer really the best season?

(Since I need a little validation, here's a link to someone who had a similar experience to mine).

Even though Perkins is ruined for me, I will still hold some memories dear.  Like the time my cousin Bjorn tried to convince me that if I ate the parsley on my Omlette plate it would kill me, and I ate it and didn't die.  Afterwards, I asked my mom if parsley was edible, and she said something about edible garnishes like rose petals (which I took to mean no).

It turns out that parsley is not just great for garnishing plates at large chain diners, it actually has a great flavor too.  I've eaten it in stuffed chicken, on pastas and other Italian dishes, but one of the best uses for parsley is in cold salads especially this Tabouli Salad.

I made this salad since I've made a public commitment to not buying more rice until our 20 lbs of couscous is used up, but I once again have found that this is actually a dish worth eating and sharing.  Couscous is arguably best eaten cold when the grains have the opportunity to show off their pearl like texture rather than taste sort of weirdly gritty.  This tabouli salad is light on the palate, citrusy, quick to fix and overall delicious.  I hope you enjoy this (however, if you are going to buy couscous consider a small 1-2lb bag).

On an unrelated note, Littlest has two teeth, but they are just barely poking through so no pictures just yet.

Tabouli Salad

by Hannah Rounds

This tabouli salad is the perfect summertime side. With cold couscous's pearly texture taking center stage accented by herbacious parsley and zesty lemon

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: Total time: 15 mins Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Couscous
• Approximately 2 Cups Boiling Water
• 3 Cloves Garlic pressed (or minced)
• 1 bunch Parsley Chopped
• 3 Roma Tomatoes Diced
• 3 Green Onions Finely sliced
• 1 Lemon's worth Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Instructions

1. Pour water on couscous and allow the couscous to absorb the water. 2. Allow couscous to cool for a few minutes. 3. Add lemon juice, olive oil and garlic to couscous and mix thoroughly 4. Add salt and pepper until you like the flavor of your couscous. Then add the rest of your ingredients and mix thoroughly. 5. Set salad aside for at least 30 minutes. You can store this in your fridge for several days.

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Pita Bread

Warm pita bread- fresh from the oven. Delicious and actually easy to make!

I did it! I actually created a baked good that is worthy of sharing on this blog!  Okay, I did make these pretzels and this grapefruit quick bread but those don't count because sugar hides a multitude of sins (except gluttony).

This pita bread is actually quite easy to make and the hands on time is minimal, but it is about a day and half long project and requires storing the dough in the fridge, so be sure you clear out space before you embark on this journey.  You might also consider bringing some friends along for the ride.  I brought Littlest. He ate frozen peas while I mixed the dough, and by the time he finished his peas, I was done with the hands on part for the day.  The next day, he took a nap and I finished the pitas.

The inspiration for these came from a repin of a recipe that is no longer available on Damn Delicious but I'm linking there anyways because that is some good food (or at least good food photography which I appreciate more every day).  She apparently used to have a recipe for a pulled pork Gyro, which is a great idea because really who knows how to cook lamb.  Not to mention that's like $27 a pound around here (possibly slight exaggeration, they don't actually sell it at the two closest grocery stores, so I wouldn't really know the price).

Anyhow, the Pin inspired me to make homemade pitas, and for once in my life it worked.  I had to adapt this recipe from Smitten Kitchen because my first few didn't turn out like I would have liked.

Once I got the technique down, the pitas poofed beautifully with a pocket of steam and a single slice yielded that traditional pocket that just waits to be stuffed with all kinds of Greek goodness (or lets be honest here, turkey and Sriracha work nicely too).

Deb of Smitten Kitchen compares the process of making these to the process of making pizza dough, but I disagree somewhat.  If you've ever done the "wet dough" technique associated with artisan bread in 5 minutes a day (sorry no link, to lazy and I'm not Amazon affiliate so there's really no point in my Googling this on your behalf) its more like that.  The basic difference is that with pizza dough, the rise really isn't that important, but with pita bread the rise is very important.

Also, before you start you're going to need some essential tools.

1. Large 2 Quart Mixing Bowl (Ice cream buckets work too)
2. Rolling Pin
3. Plastic Wrap

Homemade Pita Bread

by Hannah Rounds

Pita Bread- It's like a carb pocket ready to be filled with Greek goodness

Details

Prep time: 1 hour Cook time: 4 mins Total time: Yield: 6 Full Pitas

Ingredients

• 3 Cups +1/2 Cup for sprinkling Flour
• 1.3 Cups + A few teaspoons for sprinkling Warm Water
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons Yeast
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Instructions

1. Mix water, yeast and sugar and allow yeast to proof ten minutes. 2. Add three cups flour, salt and olive oil and mix well. Then knead the dough briefly (2-3 minutes) and allow dough to rest 10 minutes 3. After resting, flour surface generously and begin kneading the dough. You may find that the dough gets too dry or to sticky. Add more water when the dough is too dry or more flour when its sticky. Knead for about five minutes 4. Oil a bowl and put dough in the bowl to rest. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least eight hours (but don't ignore my next instruction)5. For the first four hours of the rise, punch the dough down about once per hour. 6. When you are ready to make the pitas, flour a large surface, then grab a chunk of dough and make a ball about the size of a tennis ball. Flatten the ball into a disk (about the size of a CD) 7. Cover the disk in oiled plastic (reuse the covering of the bowl) and then repeat for all 6 pitas. 8. Allow dough to rest under the plastic for about 10-20 minutes. 9. Using a floured rolling pin on a floured surface roll out on pita disk at a time. The dough should be thin but not see through. Put the flat dough on a plate to rest. Generously rub the dough with water. If the dough starts to tear, you screwed up and you should start back on step 6 with that particular ball of dough. 10. Heat oven and a baking tray to 475 (ie put the baking tray in the oven while it preheats) 11. Place one pita on the hot baking tray and bake for four minutes and 15 seconds (basically for 45 seconds after the dough poofs, but the pita shouldn't be brown yet). 12. If you resist eating it right away, it's nice to cover these with a clean tea towel

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