porta-pita: garlicky-kale stuffed pita sandwiches

Weekday lunches are often forgotten about when you work from home. Maybe it’s just me, but often coffee is the first order of business and then an hour or two later comes a bowl of cereal or some toast. Lunch, if I even eat something, is usually leftovers or if I need a quick bite…another bowl of cereal. It’s pathetic, but it does the trick.

But today things felt right with the universe. Coffee first, natch. But then came the toast for breakfast. A couple hours later and it was lunch. With no leftovers from last night in sight, I took some pita bread, a bunch of kale and decided that a garlicky, caesar-salad-like meal would make a fine lunch indeed.

The dressing is simple: just lemon juice with a little balsamic for a touch of sweet. Olive oil, garlic and mustard to bind and slick things up good. But the addition of not just Parmesan, but some strong Cheddar too? Cheesy in the best way. But the clincher are the toasted walnuts. I had some lying around that I had toasted the night before so it was easy to add them in for a super-duper crunch factor.

Hells-to-the-Yes! Super tasty….both my husband and I were blown away at how delicious and easy to eat they were. Portable lunches in a pita….HELLO! And do I need to mention that these are easy to make as well? Well, duh.

If you’re working outside the home, this may be a bit too garlicky for you and your cubical mates. But for the two of us sharing a home office, breathing in the same stinky air, this made for the perfect lunch.

garlicky-kale stuffed pita sandwiches
You can add in additional vegetables. I had a heart of red leaf lettuce that I threw in (after chopping, of course), but grated carrots would be lovely here too. You won’t use all the dressing either, just enough to moisten the kale. Save the leftover dressing for another day or another salad.
1 bunch of kale

1 T lemon juice or cider vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 t balsamic vinegar
1 t dijon or grainy mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

2 T grated Parmesan cheese
2 T strong Cheddar cheese, tiny cubes (or another favourite cheese)
handful toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

2-3 pitas, cut in half – lightly toasted or warmed (or not!)

Remove the tough, woody stems from the kale – generally for raw kale eating, I remove most of the stem to make chewing easy. Cut leaves into thin ribbons and place in a large bowl.

In a small jar, whisk up the dressing – lemon juice down to the salt & pepper. Taste and shake or whisk until it comes together. Pour some of the dressing over the kale and use your clean hands to give the kale a hearty massage.

Let sit for 10 minutes. Add in any extra vegetables here – like shredded carrots, if you feel like using. Toss in the Parmesan, Cheddar and walnuts. Stuff salad into pita halves and then stuff the sandwiches into your face. Yum.

This should make 2 or 3 servings – 2 halves make 1 serving.
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