As much as I love food, I have the tendency to be a very boring eater. I tend to come across something that I love, and can then eat that very thing for the next month, or two, or twelve. In high school, I ate couscous at least once a day without fail. And not even interesting home-made couscous, it was just the five minute instant variety.
In college, i gave up my couscous craze and replaced it with smoothies. I then had a brief stint with black beans. And the past year or so, I have had a intense adoration for green salads -- having one a day, sometimes two!
And I think I may be moving on … to pita chips. And not just any kind of pita chips, but freshly baked, still warm from the oven, pita chips. The nice thing about these pita chips is that they are just so easy to make (a strong theme with everything I cook). And, they are a great way to use up any leftover pita sitting in your fridge before they go dry and stale, which they tend to do fairly quickly.
I have made these chips using whole wheat pita, white pita, onion flavored pita, and they all work great -- each adding their own distinct flavor. I personally think they taste infinitely better than any store bought pita chip, and they are also a much healthier option since they are just simply baked with olive oil.
And what better way to eat pita chips than with a home-made spread ready for dipping. I tired of the hummus I regularly made, and tried a white bean dip fired up with a cherry pepper. It was a success -- highlighting the creaminess of the beans while still getting a nice kick from the pepper. A nice replacement for the more traditional hummus.
Rosemary Pita Chips With Spicy White Bean Dip
Loosely adapted from Hiedi Swansons Super Natural Everyday
Loosely adapted from Hiedi Swansons Super Natural Everyday
For the pita chips:
3 pitas
5 tbs olive oil
1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped (without stem)
coarse salt for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the pita's into 1" wide strips and then half in length. In a large bowl, add pita strips, olive oil and rosemary and toss to coat. Arrange the pita strips on a large baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake for 8 minutes, and flip. Yes, this part is a tad tedious, but it is totally worth it so just do it. Bake for another remaining 8 minutes, or until nicely golden brown.
If you take the pita out too soon, they will not dry out all the way through and will be a little more chewy rather than crisp. They are still tasty this way, but for the real crunchy type of pita chip, allow them to get a very dark golden color before removing from the oven. Watch them carefully at this point because they can go too far and just burn. Remove from the oven and allow a couple minutes to cool down.
For the spicy bean dip:
1 can white cannellini beans, rinsed
1/2 of a medium cherry pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp salt
2.5 tbs water
2.5 tbs olive oil
In the bowl of a food processor add the beans, cherry pepper, and salt. With the processor running, add the olive oil and then the water. If it is still a bit thick, add a some more water. And, if you can handle more spice than i can, feel free to add the other half of the pepper. After all, the cherry pepper is one of the more mild of the pepper family. Enjoy with the pita chips.
