Recipe: Mini Chicken Pitas (with Vegetarian options)

This is another easy to assemble dish. If you do not have access to mini pitas, it can also be served as a sandwich filling. Kids love this.

In a mini pita, it can be served as a snack or appetiser. In a large pita it can be an entire meal.

 

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 head of Chinese lettuce finely chopped

1 onion thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

15-20 mini pita breads

1-2 tbsp of mayonnaise or any creamy salad dressing (I like garlic mayonnaise)

Method:

Saute the onion in a pan and when it starts to caramelise, add half a cup of water salt and pepper to taste

When the water is boiling, add the chicken breasts and cook till done. (optionally add a squeeze of lemon juice)

Remove the breasts from the water and let them cool.

Shred the chicken once cold. 

Mix with the chopped Chinese lettuce.

(size of the chicken and lettuce shreds should be proportionally smaller than the bread you are stuffing it into.

Slowly fold in the salad dressing. You want just enough dressing to bind the ingredients together, the dressing is not the main ingredient.

If you want your filling spicy - add some freshly cracked black pepper to this mix.

This filling can be refrigerated for upto 2 days.

To serve:

Split half the pita bread in half across its cross section (see picture above)

Stuff about a teaspoon of (chilled or room temperature) filling in each.

You can toast the pita breads before stuffing if you like.

Serve as soon as you stuff, else the bread will turn soggy and mushy.

Options:

Use 4 boiled eggs instead of chicken, if you don't eat meat. 

Mash the yolk with the dressing and chop the egg and use instead of cooked chicken.

For a pure vegetarian version use vegetarian mayonnaise or sour cream or strained curd instead of salad dressing.

Substitute cooked chicken with 4 grated carrots

Leftovers: 

Leftover filling can be used in sandwiches.

The stock in which the chicken breasts are cooked, can be served as a soup by straining it and tempering with half a sliced onion. Add a teaspoon of shredded chicken to the soup if you like.