Greek Panzanella Salad with Avocado
Panzanella salad is a traditional italian salad made with chunks of crusty, toasted bread. It usually includes tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella cheese and olives. There is no wrong way to make it, it is simply delicious as the bread absorbs the vinaigrette and adds great texture to the salad.
This Greek inspired version of panzanella salad is made with whole wheat pita bread instead of a crusty bread. The salad is composed of crisp romaine lettuce, cucumber, sweet tomatoes, orange bell pepper, feta cheese and avocado. Even though avocado is not particularly a greek ingredient, it adds the best creaminess to the salad.
Let’s talk pita bread for a second, though. Being whole wheat, the pita bread has so much flavor and more texture than white pita bread. The pitas are dipped in an olive oil mixture of herbs and spices before being toasted until golden and crunchy. They are then chopped up and added to the salad, it’s like greek croutons! Amazing!
The true star of this dish is the vinaigrette. The olive oil mixture used to dip the pitas in, gets jazzed up with tahini, honey and red wine vinegar and it becomes the most delicious vinaigrette EVER!!
How to make this Greek Panzanella Salad with Avocado:
Preheat the oven to 350°
In a medium size bowl pour the extra virgin olive oil, add the garlic powder, dry parsley, oregano, chili flakes, paprika, salt and pepper. Whisk well.
Line a medium size baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleaning.
Dip each pita in the oil mixture on both sides. Drain the excess oil and place on the lined baking sheet.
Bake the pitas in the preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes.
Tip! On minute 10, flip the pitas so they get baked evenly on both sides.
While the pitas bake, let’s transform the olive oil mixture into the vinaigrette for the salad! I am so excited about this part!
In the same bowl where the olive oil mixture is, add the tahini, the honey and the red wine vinegar. Whisk well.
Tip! Taste the vinaigrette and determine if you’d like it sweeter or brinier. Add honey and/or more vinegar to adjust the sweetness and the brine taste of the vinegar.
Tip! If you do not have tahini, plain hummus will work too.
In a large salad bowl, add the romaine lettuce. the cucumber, the tomatoes, avocado, bell peppers and the feta cheese.
Take the pitas out of the oven and allow the cool for a bit.
Tip! If the pita is warm when added to the salad, the heat will wilt the crisp lettuce.
After they are cooled down for a minute or two, chop the pitas and add them to the salad.
Toss the salad to mix evenly.
Serve the salad on individual plates and pour the dressing on each serving.
Tip! Avoid adding the dressing to the entire salad. The dressing can wilt the veggies quickly and it can make the salad soggy.
Greek Panzanella Salad with Avocado
Equipment
- Medium size bowl
- Medium size baking sheet
- Large salad bowl
- whisk
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil good quality
- 1 teaspoon dry parsely
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/4 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 4 small whole wheat pitas
- 1 1/2 about 3 1/2 cups head s of romaine lettuce
- 1/2 about 1 cup orange bell pepper small diced
- 1 medium english cucumber small diced
- 5-6 about 2 cups sugar bomb tomatoes (any tomato will do) small diced
- 1/2 7 oz feta cheese block crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- In a medium size bowl pour the extra virgin olive oil, add the garlic powder, dry parsley, dry oregano, chili flakes, paprika, salt and pepper. Whisk well.
- Line a medium size baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Dip each pita in the oil mixture on both sides. Drain the excess oil and place on the lined baking sheet.
- Bake the pitas in the preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes.
- On minute 10, flip the pitas so they get baked evenly on both sides.
- While the pitas bake, in the same bowl where the olive oil mixture is, add the tahini, the honey and the red wine vinegar. Whisk well.
- Taste the vinaigrette and determine if you’d like it sweeter or brinier. Add honey and/or more vinegar to adjust sweetness and brine taste.
- In a large salad bowl, add the romaine lettuce, the cucumber, the tomatoes, bell peppers, avocado and the feta cheese.
- Take the pitas out of the oven and allow them cool for a bit.
- After the pitas have cooled down for a minute or two, chop them and add them to the salad.
- Toss the salad to mix evenly.
- Serve the salad in individual plates and pour the dressing on each serving. Avoid adding the dressing to the entire salad. The dressing can wilt the veggies quickly and it can make the salad soggy.