Introduction
This recipe is easy, quick and very versatile. You can make this in about 30 minutes and the recipe yields around 4 servings, which is great for a small family, a couple, or a single person. You can double the recipe for larger families or extremely hungry family members.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- Greek-style pita bread (or any other pita you can find)
- 1 lb ground lamb (or any other ground meat you can find)
- 2 tsp coriander (half this if you’re using turkey or chicken)
- 1 tsp cumin (half this if you’re using turkey or chicken)
- 1 tsp cinnamon (half this if you’re using turkey or chicken)
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper (half this if you’re using turkey or chicken unless you prefer a little more kick)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- Salt to taste
- Salad greens
- Crumbled feta
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Preparation
Combine coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl and set to the side. Finely chop your onion, crush your garlic cloves.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the onions, garlic, and seasoning mixture. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes until softened but not golden.
Increase the heat and add the ground lamb (or meat of your choice), and saute until well browned (about 5 to 8 minutes if you’re using lamb or ground beef).
While this is browning, toast your pita bread. If you’re using a Greek-style pita, toast it in a skillet. If you’re using a pocket pita you can toast it in a skillet or cut in half and toast in your toaster.
Once your meat is done browning, take off the heat and mix in the chopped cilantro.
Top or fill your pita with salad greens, greek yogurt, sauteed meat and onions, feta cheese, and toasted sesame seeds.
Tips
Lamb and ground beef can be a little greasy so if you’re using one of these proteins, use a strainer to drain out the excess oil. If you don’t have a strainer, you can line a heat-safe bowl with paper towels and press the grease out a serving at a time (though paper towels are in short supply at the moment).
If you want to make this dish vegetarian you can substitute the ground meat for meatless ground beef, falafel, sauteed eggplant, or mushrooms. All of which are readily available at most of our local grocery stores.
To kick this recipe up one more notch in the flavor department, feel free to add tomatoes or a simple tapenade.
Simple Tapenade Recipe
Add ½ cup pitted kalamata or black olives, ½ cup green olives, 2 tbsp capers (optional), 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp parsley, tsp salt, tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp red wine vinegar (optional) to a food processor and pulse till it’s a chunky paste (less if you’d like it a little more choppy in texture or more if you want it smoother).
