Food Recipes Lemony Chopped Salad With Pita 5.0 (1) This pita salad is beautiful, filling, and easy—just what a great recipe should be. By Jenna Helwig Jenna Helwig Instagram Jenna is the food director at Real Simple and the author of Bare Minimum Dinners, a cookbook featuring more than 100 low-lift, high-reward recipes. Previously, Jenna was the food director at Health and Parents. She is also the founder and operator of Rosaberry, a boutique personal chef services company, and the author of four other cookbooks, including the bestselling Baby-Led Feeding. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Published on August 18, 2021 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Victor Protasio Hands On Time: 20 mins Total Time: 30 mins Servings: 4 Jump to recipe As all great cooks know, not all salads are created equal. Some are barely more than piles of lettuce, and others are so packed with contrasting flavors it's like a traffic jam in your mouth. Not so in this gorgeous chopped salad from Bare Minimum Dinners. This lemony chopped salad recipe features crispy roasted chickpeas, toasted pita bread croutons, and a jamboree of crunchy ingredients: crunchy cucumbers, spicy radishes, and tart cherry tomatoes. Salty cheese ties the crisp flavors together, while a sprinkle of mint at the end brings welcome freshness to every bite. The final result is hearty enough to be a stand-alone meal for vegans or anyone trying to incorporate more plant-based meals into their diet. However, this ingredient combo would be at home served alongside roasted chicken or grilled salmon, too. Ingredients 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained ¼ cup chopped red onion 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, divided 2 pita bread rounds Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 Tbsp.) 1 teaspoon honey ½ cup olive oil 4 mini (Persian) cucumbers, trimmed 2 radishes, trimmed 1 pint cherry tomatoes 8 cups loosely packed salad greens (about 4 oz.) 4 ounce goat cheese or feta cheese (1 cup) Mint leaves and ground sumac, for serving (optional) Directions Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chickpeas and onion in a large bowl. Add vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine. Tear pita into bite-size pieces and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet. Meanwhile, make the dressing: whisk lemon juice, honey, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Whisk in oil. Prepare vegetables: Slice cucumbers into chunky half-moons and radishes into thin rounds. Cut tomatoes in half. Add vegetables to bowl with chickpeas and toss to combine. Add pita and pour over dressing. Add salad greens and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss to coat. Crumble cheese into bowl and gently toss to combine. Serve topped with mint leaves and/or a sprinkle of sumac, if desired. Excerpted from Bare Minimum Dinners: Recipes and Strategies for Doing Less in the Kitchen. Copyright © 2021 by Jenna Helwig. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Print