Grow a Greek Pita Salad

Ready to Eat Greek Salad Pita Pockets

Making Pitas are a fun spin on the weekly menu. The dough uses very little ingredients and is completely prepared by hand. You will notice as you begin to knead the dough that it has a slight texture similar to sponge. It's not sticky at all, but very soft. This recipe makes 8 pitas or 16 when halved.

Ingredients

1 cup warm water
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. raw organic sugar
3 cup unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

Directions

In a large bowl mix the first 4 ingredients. Next add 1 cup of flour and the yeast and mix together well. Add the rest of the flour and begin to knead. After it begins to form in the ball, plop it out onto a light floured surface and continue to knead until it forms a nice soft ball. Place the ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover twice, first with plastic wrap and then a nice towel over the top. This will help create more humidity in the bowl for the dough to rise. Set it in a warm place to rise until almost double in size. (about 1 hour)

Double Cover the dough to create more humity

After the dough has risen for an hour, plop it out on a lightly floured surface. Punch it down and make a log. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 equal pieces.

Cut dough into 8 equal pieces

Next make each piece into a ball and flatten them out with the palm of your hand. Roll each piece into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Cover loosely with your towel and let them rest and rise for about 30 to 40 minutes. They will become slightly puffy. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 500 degrees to get it good and hot. Go ahead and make several warm damp towels and place them on top of your stove top to keep them warm. Your going to layer each pita as they come out of the oven with a warm damp towel. This will keep them soft and perfect until they completely cool.

Roll into 6 to 7 inch circles

I baked three at a time on my cookie sheet. You will only bake them for about 4 or 5 minutes. You only want them to begin to turn a bit brown in spots. If you over bake them they will be to tough to eat. So keep a close eye on them at this point because each oven is a bit different. Have a large plate or pan handy with your warm damp towels. Place each pita between the damp towel as soon as you take them out of the oven. When they are all stacked, place them in a place to completely cool off before you take the towels off. Then you may uncover them and slice each circle in half. Place them in an air tight container or ziplock bag to stay soft until your ready to use them.

Sometimes I have a pita that doesn't pocket all the way. In that case, just take a very slender sharp knife and carefully complete the slit before you store them away. Just be careful not to poke a hole in the side of the pocket. If you do, don't panic, it all tastes wonderful!!

The fun comes next when you can prepare your Greek Salad Ingredients. Let your imagination go to work here. Use those garden goodies as they become available. For mine I used:

fresh deli sliced smoked turkey
feta
chopped romaine lettuce
chopped baby spinach
cucumber slices cut in 4's
grated zucchini
thinly sliced red bell pepper
black olives
pepperoncini's
thinly sliced red onion

Drizzle Some Dazzle on top with:

4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
chopped fresh oregano
sea salt and pepper to taste

shake it up and drizzle.

Happy Greek Gardening!!
Pammy