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A fantastic Pita & Spinach Salad with Dates and Almonds. One of the best salads I’ve ever made!
The past two weeks have been interesting. Not only has my life been very busy, I jumped into the deep end of the pool with no time to learn how to swim. Getting back into the kitchen with a somewhat normal routine will be a welcome change! For months I’ve anxiously waited for my turn to migrate over to WordPress. I had the best team in the world providing all the tools needed to figure this out. I only cried once, which was predicted by my web designer early in the process. I laughed at her comment, then quickly knew she was right.
Do I regret moving? No way. Was it a lot of work? Yes and I’m not anywhere near finished! Did I wait too long to get this done? Absolutely. If you’re thinking about moving your blog to WordPress, please don’t wait 4 years to do it! Do you need someone to help you with a custom, creative design and hold your hand every step of the way? Then you should contact Emily at Emily White Designs. She is calm, creative, patient, responsive, organized, detailed, professional and friendly. We worked together via Skype, on a project management tool named Basecamp, via telephone and emails. Did I mention she really knows what she’s doing? Thank you Emily – aren’t you so proud? I finally finished my Recipe Index and made a post with photos!
All joking aside, I’m going to love my new blog home and I hope you do too.
Please check out the recipe page when you get a minute!
It has been an interesting journey to look back over four years of posts and recipes. During that time both our children were married (8 months apart) and we welcomed our first grandchild. We became empty nesters, went gluten free for six months, baked and tasted 52 pies during 2011, made lots of new friends, and ate some amazing dishes. I am counting this salad as one of my favorite recipes ever. My husband agrees. Who knew that simple ingredients like spinach, almonds, onions and pitas could be so amazing?
Slice pitted Medjool dates into quarters and place them in a small bowl with 1/2 a red onion sliced thin. Marinate the mixture with white wine vinegar while preparing the salad.
This is the really cool part. Tear two whole wheat pitas into small pieces and saute in olive oil and butter along with coarsely chopped almonds until lightly browned and toasted. Sprinkle the toasted pita pieces with a mixture of red chili flakes, sumac and salt. I couldn’t stop taking a bite or two in between photos. So tasty!
Drain the onions and dates and toss them together with spinach, pitas, and almonds. Top the salad with a little drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.
This salad will serve four as a starter but we had it as a dinner for two 🙂
Be sure to PIN to your favorite salad board!
Pita & Spinach salad with dates and almonds
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- ½ medium red onion, sliced thin
- 3.5 ounces pitted Medjool dates, cut into quarters, lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 small whole wheat pitas, torn into 1.5 inch pieces
- ½ cup whole unsalted almonds, coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons sumac
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- the juice of one lemon
- salt
Instructions
- Place the sliced onions and dates in a small bowl. Toss with the white wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. Set aside to marinate.
- In a small bowl combine the sumac, red pepper flakes and ¼ teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- Heat the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the pita pieces and chopped almonds. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring constantly or until the pita pieces are crunchy and golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle the sumac mixture over the pitas and almonds. Toss to combine. Set aside to cool.
- Drain the onions and dates and discard any extra vinegar. Place the spinach in a large bowl and add the pitas and almonds. Add the onions and dates. Drizzle the spinach with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, the juice of one lemon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve immediately
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Ottolenghi and Tamimi are brilliant! We’ve loved everything made from this cookbook. Thank you so much for stopping by! I have missed you all and can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to. Thanks for your patience, friendship and support! Hope you have a lovely weekend.
Tricia
tanna
Hey, girl!! I was by with my phone a couple of days ago, but still cannot navigate a comment on my phone!! LOL! Yes, I’m a dinosaur. 😉
This salad looks FABULOUS! We are really trying to eat healthier… {sigh} And, healthy food is SO GOOD; I don’t know why the other just calls my name… LOL! I love it all… the good, the bad and the really bad. 😉
Your smile absolutely lights up the world! Love your photo at the top! I know it was lots of work, but everything looks great. Sending you big {{hugs}} and congratulations on your successful move! blessings ~ tanna
ela@GrayApron
Congratulation on the move. I know, they can be very scary.
The salad looks great, never thought about sautéing pita pieces!
Kari@Loaves n Dishes
Looove the new website, Tricia! I’ve been fretting over changing to WordPress for over a year, I get overwhelmed with techie stuff. Looove the salad too, sigh…
Tricia Buice
Thanks Kari! You would love this salad – and WordPress seems pretty great so far. If you need help give Emily a call. She was pretty amazing to work with. Hope you have a lovely weekend.
Monica
Congrats on the re-design! I love the bright airy look to it. The bigger pictures really showcase your amazing photography. I wish I had started out with Word Press too way back when. I’m afraid it’s “too late” now and I’m not sure I have what it takes to make any serious change to my little blog. I’m glad you did what you did. Looks terrific…as does this salad. The basics are always the very best. I could dive right into that pan of pita!
Tricia Buice
Thank you Monica! I love the light and bright look too. Emily was terrific in knowing exactly what I wanted. Thanks and hope you have a great weekend!
michael
Love the new theme Tricia! The Pita & Spinach salad looks delicious! Love the idea of toasting and making pita chips! 🙂
Tricia Buice
Thanks Michael. I love your new site and you did it all by yourself! I was a big fat chicken and am so grateful Emily White Designs helped me.
Abbe @ This is How I Cook
Everything looks great Tricia and you look so happy! Glad it worked out well! I made this salad last year and posted it and I must agree. It is one of our favorites, also! I make it fairly regular now. So so good, Just like this new look!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Abbe – I love that you used bread in your salad – just like real croutons. Hope you have a terrific weekend!
cheri
Hi Tricia, love your new site it is very nicely put together. I’m still on blogger, need to make the change. BTW, this salad looks amazing, love sumac!
Tricia Buice
Aww thanks Cheri! Good luck and don’t wait too long to move over. I love Blogger but know this is where I need to be. Thanks! Have a great weekend.
Emily
Hi Tricia,
Glad you are live now. Just testing out the comments here to make sure all is good 🙂
sue/the view from great island
Hey Tricia, the site looks incredible! Everything is so bright and fresh, and the salad sounds great, too. I love dates, and you don’t see them often enough in recipes. Congratulations on the beautiful new site, all your hard work was worth it!!
2 Sisters Recipes...by Anna and Liz
We love all the ingredients in this salad! Great recipe! All the best to you Tricia with the new site. As mentioned in the previous posts, we love the new look! Congrats and have a great weekend!
Angie@Angie's Recipes
Congratulation on the new home 🙂
The salad looks superb!