Eat to Live: Portobello Red Pepper Pita

Imagine a sandwich that actually helps you lose weight.  Now imagine that said sandwich is incredibly delicious and easy to make. Do I have your attention now?  Good, cause I’m up to something new!  I’ve decided I’m going to make and post the recipes from Dr. Fuhrman’s book “Eat to Live” under the “7 Days of Vegetarian Meal Plans (For Aggressive Weight Loss),” that you can find starting on page 240.  When I completed the 6 week plan I didn’t take the time to make many of the recipes in the book, I basically just stuck to the nutritarian guidelines and made what I could within those parameters.  Now, I’m no longer a nutritarian novice and I’m in this for the long haul (not just a quick fix), so I need to take the time to try these recipes out!  I’m so glad I started with Dr. Fuhrman’s Portobello Red Pepper Pita recipe and this amazing Tahini Date spread!

I LOVE THIS RECIPE SO MUCH!!!  It’s fast, it’s delicious, it’s satisfying, and did I say it’s freaking delicious???  Because I have to make the kids something separate at every meal, this recipe is a big plus!  You can make the sauce before hand then quickly slice up your red onion and mushrooms (yes, I’m happy to report you can use criminis, baby bellas or white mushrooms and they all taste devine!) and toss them in the oven while you finish fixing the meal for your young’ins.

My hubby loves this pita recipe as much as I do, so after I made this first batch 2 weeks ago, he’s requested the dish 3 more times!  I love that it’s savory, crunchy (from the arugula), meaty (from the mushrooms, especially when you use the portobellos) and a tad bit sweet from the dates in the tahini spread.

I followed Dr. Fuhrman’s Day 1 Lunch (on page 240 of “Eat to Live”) to a “t” and had my giant mixed greens salad with garbanzo beans and balsamic vinegar as my “main course.”  It’s important to eat these pitas with some type of protein, so a cup of lentil stew or a salad with beans would do the trick.   If you’re faithfully adhering to the 6 week Eat to Live Plan, you’d eat your salad first, but after taking a test bite of the Tahini Date sauce during the cooking process, I couldn’t resist digging right in (not to worry though, I finished it all, salad included!).

I’ve made this recipe with three kinds of mushrooms so far: portobello, crimini and white button.  All of them tasted wonderful and for the crimini and whites I just used Trader Joe’s pre-sliced in a bag–super convenient!  So, you can’t go wrong with any of those mushroom varieties!  For me the key is letting the onion slices get slightly crispy and browned and the mushrooms a dired out a bit, so I cooked mine for an extra 5-10 minutes over Dr. Fuhrman’s recommendations.

PORTOBELLO RED PEPPER PITA by Dr. Fuhrman (see page 278 of “Eat to Live” book)

Ingredients:

• 4 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed (or 8 to 10 ounces of white or crimini mushrooms, sliced)
• 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 whole wheat pitas
• 2 cups arugula
• 1 medium red pepper from a jar, cut into 1/2 inch slices (or you can slice up a fresh red pepper and roast it with the other veggies)
• 4 tbsp. prepared Tahini Date sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Arrange the mushrooms and onions on a baking sheet and roast until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.  While the veggies are cooking is a great time to make the Tahini Date spread, recipe here. 
2. When the mushrooms and onion are done, split the pitas in half horizontally and warm slightly.  spread a generous amount of tahini spread on the top half of each pita.  Place 1 cup arugula, mushrooms slices, 1/2 the red onion and some red peppers on the bottom half of each pita.  Assemble and serve!