Homemade Pita Chips with Olive Tapenade and Greek Salad

Crunchy little Pita Chips are fun to make yourself. Buy some pita bread, cut it in wedges, brush it with olive oil and sprinkle with your favorite seasoning (thyme, sea salt, majoram, paprika, etc). Bake it at 375 for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Serve the pita chips with Olive Tapenade, Hummus or a fabulous greek salad and you'll have a great snack, or lunch, or dinner....

Greek Salad

(from Ina Garten)

Ingredients

• 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1 red bell pepper, large-diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, large-diced
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 red onion, sliced in half-rounds
• 1/2 pound feta cheese, 1/2-inch diced (not crumbled)
• 1/2 cup calamata olives, pitted

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup good olive oil

Directions

Place the cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Still whisking, slowly add the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta and olives and toss lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

Olive Tapenade

1 cup Niçoise olives, pitted
1 cup small green French olives (Picholine), pitted
¼ cup Oven-Dried or sun dried Tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed if packed in salt
1 garlic clove
1 anchovy fillet
½ tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
½ tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
½ tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
(¼ tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves) optional
½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients except the olive oil and orange juice. Using the pulse button, process until coarsely chopped and well blended. Continue to process, slowly adding the olive oil and orange juice. Refrigerate in a covered container. Use as needed.
Tapenade will keep up to 1 week, refrigerated, in a covered container.