Eastern Mediterranean Chickpea & Herb Salad with Labneh

Course: Breakfasts
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Difficulty: Moderate
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2
Author: Barbara Alexander

This delicious and quick recipe is a play on the many versions of Middle Eastern Fatteh–a traditional breakfast food. Enjoy it for a quick healthy dinner, lunch or brunch item. The components can all be prepared & refrigerated up to a day ahead, leaving only assembly and the egg.

Print

Ingredients

Crispy ChickPeas and Pita 

  • 2 loaves Pita bread
  • 1 can Chickpeas (⅓ for crispy chickpeas) drained, rinsed and separated 
  • Olive oil for drizzling
  • 1 pinch Salt
  • 1 pinch Za’atar

Garlicy Tahini Labneh 

  • 1/3 cup Labneh or yogurt
  • 1 clove Garlic crushed until quite fine
  • 1 heaping tbsp Tahini
  • 1 pinch Cumin
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 pinch Sumac

Crushed Chickpea ‘Salad’

  • 2/3 can Chickpeas reserved from above
  • 1/8 Red onion finely diced
  • 1/4 cup Roasted red bell peppers diced
  • 8 Pitted kalamata olives quartered
  • 1 rib Celery thinly sliced
  • 1 Lemon zest and juice
  • 1/4 cup Olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper or chili flakes
  • 1 pinch Za’atar
  • 2 Organic farm eggs
  • 1/4 cup Cilantro leaves
  • 1/4 cup Mint leaves  optional
  • 1/4 cup Parsley leaves optional
  • 1/4 cup Dill leaves  optional

Instructions

Crispy ChickPeas and Pita 

  1. Preheat oven to 425F.  Line two sheet pans with parchment. Brush the pitas with olive oil and place on sheet pan.  Toss 1/3 of a can of chickpeas with olive oil and place on a separate sheet pan. Place both in the oven. After 10 minutes, stir the chickpeas and turn the pita over.  Continue for another 10 minutes or until the pita is crispy.  Remove the pita when it is crisp and continue with the chickpeas for 5 to 10 minutes until they are crispy. Sprinkle both with a little salt and za’atar and allow to cool.

Garlicky Tahini Labneh 

  1. In a small bowl --mix the labneh or yogurt with the crushed garlic, salt, tahini, a pinch of cumin and olive oil. Set aside

Crushed Chickpea ‘Salad’

  1. In a medium bowl, crush the reserved chickpeas lightly with a fork--don’t worry if all the chickpeas are crushed, some can remain whole.  Stir in the onion, peppers, olives, celery, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and Aleppo pepper or chili flakes and a good pinch of za’atar.  Set aside.

  2. On individual plates smear ½ the labneh in a circle. Sprinkle with sumac.

  3. Break the pita chips into large irregular pieces and tuck around the labneh

  4. Spoon the chickpea salad onto the labneh

Eggs & Herbs to finish

  1. In a small nonstick pan heat a little olive oil and fry two eggs sunny side up, season with salt and pepper and place on top the chickpeas. Sprinkle with Za’atar.

  2. Add herbs for topping (optional): Cilantro, mint, parsley leaves, dill