An Easy, Flexible Mediterranean Flatbread Salad Recipe
Falafel – good. Flatbread – good. Salad – good. Feta – good. Hummus – good. What’s not to like? OK, so if there is an element you don’t like, you can substitute it, this isn’t a recipe that calls for exact ingredients, you can change it around depending on what’s in the refrigerator, what’s fresh from the garden, and how much time you have. That’s what makes it a family favorite at our house. We call it “Greek tea”, but that would likely cause confusion for people who don’t live at my house, who might expect a beverage.
I’ll give you my standard falafel flatbread salad pizza recipe, along with some of the salad “pizza” topping variations I’ve tried, but do experiment. It can be scaled up or down easily depending on how many people you’re feeding and how greedy they are.
This recipe makes no attempt to be authentic. I made it up. It’s a little bit like some meals I’ve had in Greece, it’s a little bit like some meals I’ve had at Lebanese restaurants, and it’s a little bit like some meals I’ve eaten from food trucks at music festivals in England.
Falafel Flatbread “Pizza” Ingredients
Feeds 4 (or 3 fairly greedy people)
1 Cup hummus
8 Giant handfuls of salad leaves – this is not a job for iceberg lettuce. Use baby spinach, lambs lettuce, watercress, rocket/arugula etc, you want dark green, flavorful, nutrient dense leaves.
1 Cup cubed feta cheese (omit for vegans)
12 Large or 20 small falafels
About 20 cherry tomatoes
1 Cup yoghurt (or Caesar or ranch dressing, or vegan alternative)
4 Flatbreads – Recipe below, or you can buy ready made. Pitta breads work too. Skip ahead to the assembly instructions if using store bought breads.
Optional Extras
Chopped zucchini during the glut
Chopped bell pepper
Chopped cucumber (if you must)
Flatbread Recipe
If you have a bread machine, make your own flatbreads. If you don’t have a bread machine, I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems, but kneading dough ain’t one.
Baking is a precise art, so no time for cups. These ingredients work:
500 grams strong bread flour (I use an 80:20 white:wholewheat mix)
280 milliliters water
2 tbsp/30ml olive oil
Pop in the bread maker on the ‘pizza’ setting.
This will take about 45 minutes so use the time to prep the topping ingredients and pour yourself a sherry.
Drink the sherry.
Divide the dough into four equal parts, heat up a griddle or heavy skillet (frying pan).
Shape the dough into rough circles, squish out til they’re about 8″ in diameter, they’ll be a bit misshapen, just call them rustic.
Cook on the griddle one at a time, for about 2 minutes on each side. Flip after a minute (or if you smell burning). Keep them warm as you cook all four.
Make Your Own Flatbreads
Making flatbreads is a breeze with a bread machine. You just pop the ingredients in and about 45 minutes later you have perfectly mixed, well kneaded dough ready for you to turn into a delicious flatbread, making you look like the most fabulous cook on earth. Homemade flatbreads taste soooo good. They’re hot, fresh and doughy. It’s a pain to spend 45 minutes mixing and kneading by hand, so I wouldn’t bother, but with a bread machine, it’s easier and convenient for a quick midweek meal. This one is inexpensive, yet highly rated, so a good way to find out if bread making is for you (it is).
Assembling Your Flatbread Salad “Pizza”
This is absurdly easy.
Warm the falafels
Spread each flatbread with about a quarter cup of hummus/houmous
Top that with two giant handfuls of salad leaves
Add the tomatoes
Sprinkle on the feta
Pile on the falafels
Dot some splodges of yoghurt on the top
Add any of the optional ingredients you like
Enjoy.
