Lentil stuffed pita pockets

Ever since I saw this Mark Bittman's sloppy joe pita recipe in Cooking Light I have itching to try it out. Honestly, whats not there to love when you have warm toasted pitas stuffed with warm and spicy lentil stuffing, some cool mint yogurt sauce and cucumber! 

I always have a pack of Trader Joe's whole wheat pitas at hand. Came home from work late. Quickly chopped some onions, tomatoes and garlic and put the lentils to cook (hardly 10min prep time). The lentil cooking time of around half an hour was largely unattended in which I made myself a hot decaf with a slice of toast and watched some mindless television to unwind the day :) Once the lentils were ready, the whole assembly took another 15mins and thats it, dinner is served! I substituted fresh avocado slices for the cucumber slices and finished with a tangy sweet jalapeno sauce that I found at a local Afghan grocer for some extra kick. All in all, a dinner well served! 

Recipe:

Source: Mark Bittman's sloppy joe pitas in Cooking Light

Ingredients:

For the lentil filling:

3/4C French lentils (or brown lentils or masoor)

2C water (or per the lentil cooking instructions)

1 medium onion - chopped

3 cloves of garlic - smashed

2 tomatoes - chopped

handful of fresh thyme chopped (or dried thyme)

1.5tsp cumin powder

1Tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper

For Yogurt Raita:

1/2C non-fat yogurt

few Tbsp of water

handful of chopped fresh mint

dash of red wine vinegar

pinch of crushed red chili flakes

salt

For vegetables in the filling:

1 fresh avocado - sliced

OR 1 cucumber - chopped

some fresh mint

For assembly:

4 whole wheat pitas

hot sauce of your choice (I used an Afghan bolani jalapeno sauce)

Recipe:

Prepare the lentil filling:

Saute chopped onions and garlic in a Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. When the onions start to tender, add cumin powder and roast for a minute or two. Follow up with some chopped tomatoes, lentils, water and enough salt. Let the mixture come to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and simmer covered for 30mins or so or until the lentils have cooked through (but not turned mushy). Add more water if you need it during the cooking process. When the lentils have cooked through turn the heat off, add thyme and black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Prepare the raita:

Assemble all the raita ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings per taste.

Assemble:

Toast the whole wheat pitas and then cut them into halves diametrically. Using your fingers or a knife open the pitas up. Spread the raita on one side. Add few Tbsp of lentil mixture into the pita. Add a few avocado or cucumber slices, some chopped mint and finish with a dash of hot sauce.