Mediterranean Chopped Salad With Shrimp and Chickpeas

We eat a lot of salads but sometimes chopping up all those veggies is so time consuming an such a pain. So I decided to find a recipe that combined everything into a nice little salad. And while I was reading this recipe, there was a little note along the bottom that said the spiced pita chips would go nicely with the salad. So since I needed pita chips for the salad recipe anyway, I decided to make those too (recipe also below).

1/2 head Romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into thin strips (8 cups)

1 lb. cooked, peeled and deveined medium shrimp

1/2 English cucumber, chopped

1 15.5-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed

1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped

3/4 cup Feta cheese (about 3 oz.)

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

2 cups pita chips, broken into pieces

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

kosher salt and black pepper

In a large bowl, add the lettuce, shrimp, cucumber, chickpeas, onion, Feta, olives and pita chips to the oil and vinegar. Add 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and toss.

Spiced Pita Chips

4 pitas (I used the mini round pitas and cut them in half)

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Heat the broiler. Split the pitas to make 8 rounds and brush them with the oil. Sprinkle with the paprika, oregano and salt. Slice the pitas into triangles. Arrange on 2 baking sheets and broil until crisp, about 2 minutes.

Avocado Pasta Salad

I wanted to make some sort of cold salad with avocado to go with our chicken, and this is what I came up with. It was really good and made for a nice lunch too. I found a dressing recipe with lime in it to help with the oxidation of the avocado...or so I thought. The avocado turned brown the next day so I'm thinking next time I'll toss the avocado with the dressing first, THEN add the rest of the ingredients. I mean, it's not that big of a deal but it tends to not look too appetizing.

1 lb. pasta of your choice, cooked

1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed

1-2 avocaods, large dice

4-5 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

chopped fresh parsley

salad dressing:

2 limes, juiced

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

about 20 grinds fresh black pepper

1 tbsp. whole-grain mustard

Cook the pasta according to the package. In the meantime, in a large bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients. Dice the avocado, add to dressing and toss. Run the pasta under cold water to cool off; drain. Add pasta to bowl along with artichoke hearts and feta cheese. I added about a handful of chopped fresh parsley as well. Enjoy!