Easy Peasy Pitas

I normally don't like to eat other people's food.  I don't know how clean they are in their kitchens (I wash my hands at least a dozen times while cooking) and I don't know what they put in there (eggs and mayonnaise, probably).  So I politely refuse and use my excuse of "weird eating habits," and no one pushes it further.  A few months ago, though, one of my coworkers made a dish that she said was vegan and something I would like.  She also said she made it knowing that I could eat it.  You can't really refuse that offer, so I decided to give into my phobia and try it.

It was a mixture of black beans, chickpeas, chopped onions, green peppers and corn tossed in olive oil and lemon juice, that she put inside a whole wheat pita.  Right up my alley!  I wrote down the few ingredients on a post-in note and then put it somewhere that I wouldn't find for another few months.  (Typical). Well, a few weeks ago I decided I wanted a healthy lunch that I could eat all week, so I got all the ingredients and mixed them together in a large bowl.  The problem was, I can't find pitas here anywhere. The only store that had them had pocketless pitas-- which I didn't learn until I got home.  I tried to make it work, but that was kind of a disaster.   No, that was a huge disaster. Word of advice: don't try to turn pocketless pitas into pockets or you will have a big mess on your hands.

It turned out I had enough to feed an army and nothing to put it in, so I ate it plain with a spoon.  The thing with this meal is that it's better for a house full of people.  There is just so much of it that after awhile it gets boring eating the same thing over and over again.  And it seemed like no matter how much I ate, the amount never seemed to get smaller.  It's the meal that never ends!  On the upside, it's tasty, super easy to make, really cheap (minus the pitas, all the ingredients probably cost about $5), and it has lots of protein with the chickpeas and black beans.  It's one of those foods that you feel good about eating, because you know none of the ingredients are processed or full of chemicals.

If you don't want to make this a meal, it can serve just as easily as an appetizer.  Instead of pita bread, use pita chips to scoop it up!