Our roommate Matt went away for the weekend and brought home a new meal idea.  He and his lady Jane made it together first, then Joe and I were lucky to try it and help with the second batch!  We ate it for dinner; it’s filling enough to qualify as a meal but light enough to treat it as a snack. It’s a healthy pita pizza!

Ingredients :: chopped walnuts, goat cheese, arugula, mushrooms, walnut oil, balsamic vinegar, pita, thyme, salt & pepper.

Preheat oven to 400°.

The amount of ingredients you need will depend on how many pitas you want to make.  We made 6 and measured everything by eye, dividing the ingredients into 6 portions.

Place goat cheese in a bowl and mix with walnuts.  We used about a 3 inch log of cheese and about a cup of walnuts.  Don’t bother measuring it out, just pour some walnuts in, mix up and add more until there’s enough.

Slice mushrooms and lightly sauté in olive oil.  We used about a half pack of baby bellas.  I think most other types of mushrooms would work nicely in this dish as well.  Use whatever you have and however much is necessary.

Prepare your thyme by removing the leaves from the stem and lightly chopping. We used 1-2 tablespoon across the 6 pitas; adjust according to how strong you prefer the flavor.

Place your pitas on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle your chopped thyme and divide mushrooms on to the pita.

Spread the walnut goat cheese and sprinkle lightly with fresh black pepper. Place in to the oven and cook it for 10-15 minutes.  Keep an eye on it, you’ll want to remove it from the oven once the cheese has softened and is slightly browned.

As it is cooking prepare the arugula.  Toss it with walnut oil, balsamic vinegar, and a dash of kosher salt.  Splash these ingredients on, you don’t need much, taste as you go.  Avoid using too much oil, you want it to feel fresh and light but have a hint of flavor with this simple dressing.

Once the pita pizza is done cooking remove it from the oven, serve it on a plate, and top it with your arugula salad.

The other night Joe and I decided that we would try to make a “Mediterranean” style meal. We wanted it to be relatively easy and fresh – so we chose to prepare pita, hummus, & tabbouleh.

Pita seemed like it would be fairly easy to create.  We have experimented with a few different types of flat bread before, but this was our first attempt at making pita – it won’t be our last! Unfortunately, I would not say it was a great success this time; it was definitely edible and pretty good, but not quite good enough to share the internet recipe that we followed with you. However, it turned out to be a great meal anyway as the improv Hummus and Tabbouleh made up for it!

Hummus is a pretty easy dip to figure out; the basic ingredients are chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, oil, & salt.  It seems like a welcoming palette for additional flavors.  We added a few things to the mix.

Hummus Ingredients ::

2 cans chick peas
1 cup edamame
3-4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeño
1/3 cup tahini
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup olive oil
2 lemons
water to thin

• Use a blender to combine the ingredients.  Chop and seed the jalapeño before blending, include seeds if you want more heat.  If the mixture is too thick add a small amount of water to thin out to the desired consistency.  You can also choose to add more lemon or oil but be sure to taste it as you add more flavor (and liquid).  Taste as you go; make it as spicy, as salty, or as sour as you like it! Use our recipe as a guide.

Basic ingredients of tabbouleh include – bulgur, parsley, mint, tomato, oil, & lemon.  It doesn’t seem too difficult to make that combination taste good right?  This would be our first experience of working with bulgur.  Here is the mixture we came up with.

Tabbouleh Ingredients ::

½ cup dry bulgur wheat
1 cup or 1 bundle chopped cilantro
½+ cup mint
3 garlic cloves
2 cucumbers diced (1 ½ cups)
3 plum tomatoes diced (1+ cup)
1 lemon juiced (3 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

• Boil 1 cup of water and add a ½ cup of dry bulgur wheat, cover and steep for about a half hour.  In the meantime, finely chop the cilantro & mint, crush the garlic, and carefully dice the tomato & cucumber.  Once bulgar is soft, drain excess water. In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix.

• You can use the tabbouleh and hummus in many ways; we assembled this meal as an open faced sandwich, layering each on top of the pita.  Of course it’s always great as a dip or stuffed into a pocket pita.  Also, FYI – Joe made an omelet with leftover tabbouleh in the morning!  More possibilities to be discovered… enjoy.