I had been thinking about trying Arif’s recipe for home made pita for about a week but wanted to make some sides to serve with them to make it a meal. On my way home from work one day I stopped at the new Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis and picked up a few things at the Holy Land Grocery and Deli.

Here I found bulgar wheat to make tabouli, some dry garbanzo beans, a huge block of feta, and an intriguing smelling spice mix they had there ready made. The pitas were as promised…easy and sooo good. They went very well both for dinner and for lunch the next day with the sides I put together inspired by my trip to the market. (P.S. I used the upside down side of a cookie sheet to cook them and it worked just fine.)

Tabouli Salad

What you need:

  • 1 cup dry bulgar wheat
  • 11/2 cups boiling water
  • 11/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 cup or the juice of one large lemon
  • 2 crushed fresh garlic cloves
  • 1 bunch fresh chopped parsley
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • fresh black pepper
  • 1 yellow tomato
  • 1/2 chopped red bell pepper
  • 1/2 cubed avacado

1. Combine bulgar, boiling water, salt and garlic in a bowl. Cover and let stand 15-20 minutes.

2. Add all the other ingredients and mix thouroughly. You can eat it at once, but it gets better after a few hours in the fridge.

Garbanzo Stew

What you need:

  • 2 tbsp of the Holy Land Spice mix crushed (or a self made combo of bay leaf, garlic, ginger, cardamon, cumin, tumric, salt and pepper)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (or one can)
  • 4 whole ripe red tomatoes (or one can)

1. Cook the spices in the olive oil until they smell good(2-3 minutes), add the chopped onion and stir on low heat for 10 minutes.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes and cover, cooking on medium-low heat for ten minutes.

3. Add garbanzo beans, cover again and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes.