Chopped salad with tahini, za’atar & pitta croutons

This salad is inspired by the king of vegetarian food, Ottolenghi and has become one of my favourite lunches - you have to try it!

This is inspired by his chopped salad with za’atar and tahini and the pitta croutons here are my twist on it.

The pitta croutons are spiced and add a nice bit of texture to the chopped salad underneath with a creamy tahini dressing spiked with za’atar.

For the salad:

• 1/2 cucumber chopped and de-seeded

• 1 large roma tomato chopped and de-seeded

• 2 spring onions finely chopped

• 30g crumbled feta

For the dressing:

• 1 tbsp tahini (the runnier, the better)

• a good squeeze of lemon

• 1tbsp olive oil

• salt to taste

• 1/2 tsp za’atar

For the pitta croutons:

• 1 pitta bread

• drizzle of olive oil

• pinch of za’atar

• 1/2 tsp paprika

Method:

1. Mix all of the ingredients for the salad

2. Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad

3. Tear the pitta into pieces and coat with the oil and spices before heating in a dry frying pan until crispy and golden (you could also pop them in the air fryer for 5 minutes at 200 degrees.)

4. Plate the salad and top with the croutons