Having a well stocked cupboard and fridge can make your life so easy and cooking such a pleasure. Make that effort once a week, get yourself organized and you’ll be sorted for the rest of the week. Have a well stocked cupboard with all kinds of spices, dried herbs, sauces, pluses and grains and a freezer full of your favourite meat cuts. I just always insist on really fresh seafood (preferably live), the rest of the meat is OK frozen. And of course, your fridge must always have all your basic veggies, dairy products, and a whole of fresh fruits and herbs. Have this section sorted out and you can throw together a fantastic meal any time of the day … in a jiffy ! I like to be organized … sometimes a bit too much, ‘cuz I’m always obsessing about food, and i needn’t necessarily be making fancy food all the time. Most of the time, its just really simple tasty home food, that just gives you that satisfying feeling, that no restaurant food can. Like for instance these 2 quick fixes i made for lunch. Extremely easy to make and so good to taste.
Back in Ghana my local Lebanese baker makes me these special mini pita breads. They fit on the palm of my hand and are always so soft and fresh. I use them for appetizers in parties or sometimes even for breakfast or lunch. There are like a million things you could stuff in there, and they look so cute and petit, that you wont be able to resist grabbing one( or a couple actually :p). These pita breads keep really well if you freeze them as soon as you get them from the bakery. When you want to use them, just leave them on the kitchen counter for 15-30 mins and its as good as freshly baked. The same actually goes for most breads, and i learnt to do this while i was in Africa, as its really troublesome to go so far everyday to buy some fresh bread. So i started freezing it. It really is a life saver. Trust me ! Well so this time i just made some spiced chicken burgers with a refreshing mint Greek yogurt in the mini pita bread and some pita-pizza to follow.
Mini Spiced Chicken Burgers with Mint Greek Yogurt
- Chicken mince
- Chopped red chillies
- Chopped Garlic
- Finely chopped Red Onion
- Chopped Corriander
- 1 tsp Red Chilli pd
- 1 tsp Cumin pd
- 1 tsp Kafta spice
- Salt to taste
- Lebanese cucumber sliced with skin on
- Greek Yogurt
- Chopped fresh Mint
- Few leaves of fresh crunchy lettuce
For making the Chicken burger, bring together in a mixing bowl, the mince, spices, corriander, chillies, garlic and onion. Mix it well with your hand and form flat patties and fry them in a few drops of olive oil on a non stick pan or even better if you have a griddle pan. Meanwhile whip together the Greek yogurt, mint and some salt. Warm the pita bread slightly on the naked flame of the gas and then slice it open, place the lettuce right at the bottom, then place the burger and top it up with some yogurt and a few slices of the cucumber. Its a very nutritious and well balanced snack … spicy vs cool, soft vs crunch, hot vs cold, juicy & meaty vs green & sharp … what more could you ask for !
And this one – The Pita-Pizza i think says it all. I’m still such a sucker for my margarita pizzas, I always like it simple – tomato sauce and cheese – no nonsense ! So this one is an a quick fix for that pizza craving at yet another odd hour, when you don’t have any pizza dough at an arms length, then you go for the frozen pita breads. They make an amazingly crunchy base, so thin and light, and bakes in no time at all . Just pour your (homemade) spicy tomato sauce on top, break some fresh buffalo mozzarella over it, bake and enjoy !! yum yum !
You can never go wrong with pita bread! I love those chicken burgers with that mint yogurt.
Your pita burgers and pita pizzas look incredibly scrumptious and tempting! Now, I’m feeling hungry and I could really eat one of these wonderful treats…
cheers,
Rosa
nice idea: i’ll try you’re burgers next weekend with all the family, I’ll try to cook the meat on the BBQ
Kajal, those look so yummy, You making my mouth water gal!
I love this. Am making this for the weekend! YUM!
well, they certainly are a quick fix hehehe!!!
These are so tempting, they are beautiful.
love these
that chicken burger sounds marvelous.
I love these Kate and your photos are gorgeous as always!
Both the burgers and pizzas look very tasty. Which one would I choose? Hmmm, could I have, preferably a couple of, both?
Greetings,
Tiina
Wow love it….Looks scrummy…
I’m so hungry after looking at your pics.
Hey Kajs,
Wow they look really appealing. I know pita breads are a life saver…just makes me wanna raid my freezer for a quick fix ;p
Wow ….these look so good. I have only been stuffing falafels in these. Will try something like this now.
MUST… GET… PITAS…. Seriously, those are awesome. And really effortless too, I love it!
Those look amazing! the pita pizzas remind me of my childhood in Saudi Arabia — they would make pita pizzas like that everywhere.
Freshly bakes pitas are the best. You just just about stuff anything is a pita!
you do it again
… easy, simple… and stylish!!!
Really tasty quick fixes excellent tasty bites, I also use mini pita’s for a lot of stuff, and these are fine examples here what one can do with them.
xx
They’re so, so cute! I must look for some of those mini-pita’s. Or make them myself!
The photo of the mini burgers is stunning.
WOW I WISH I WERE THERE TO TASTE THE FRESH BAKED HOT PITA BREAD , I ABSOLUTELY LOVE PITAS WITH CHICKEN FILINGS, AND IT LOOKS VERY TEMPTING.
I love your recipes. I can’t wait to try them out/
Oh, I just love all your recipes Kajal, and those quick fixes look really delicious
I have lots of frozen bread as well and even returned to weekly shopping, saving lots of time and energy.
Enjoy your day!
Looks like this recipe would work well with ground lamb, too. The mint sounds delectable.
Your chicken pitas look delish! Stephanie’s right, lamb would be amazing!