Middle Eastern Pita Pocket Sandwiches

Creamy hummus and sumac-spiced veggies give these sandwiches a distinct Middle Eastern flare, especially when drizzled with or dipped in the homemade herbed tahini sauce. Pita pockets are easy to eat without getting messy, and the thin bread won’t overwhelm the filling like sub-style sandwiches tend to do, making these scrumptious snacks perfect for on-the-go eating. If you aren’t a fan of eggplant, feel free to substitute yellow summer squash or portobello mushrooms to add extra heft.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 7 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1¼ cups cubed zucchini (1-inch cubes)
  • 1 cup cubed eggplant (1-inch cubes)
  • 1 cup bite-size strips red bell pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground sumac
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ cup tahini
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • 3 whole wheat pita rounds, halved crosswise and warmed
  • 2 cups oil-free hummus
  • 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce

Instructions

  • For filling, in a large skillet cook onion and 4 cloves of the garlic in ¼ cup water over medium 10 minutes or until onion is golden, stirring occasionally. (Don't add water; you want the onion to brown.) Add the next five ingredients (through cumin). Cook 10 minutes or until eggplant is tender, stirring occasionally.
  • For tahini sauce, in a bowl stir together tahini, lemon juice, parsley, the remaining 3 cloves minced garlic, and ¼ cup water until smooth. Season with salt. Stir in additional water if needed to reach drizzling consistency.
  • Open pita halves to make pockets. Spread hummus in pockets. Add ⅓ cup each lettuce and vegetable filling to each pita pocket. Just before serving, drizzle filling with tahini sauce.

Comments (11)

(5 from 7 votes)

Recipe Rating

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Jill Hanna

I would love to make this. Please let me know where I can find these pitas!! Thank you

Becky

What brand of Pita rounds could I buy to be able to open the. I’ve struggled with opening the ones I bought at Walmart. (all I could find in our small community.) We liked the sauce and veggies.

Julia

Love your recipes I bought your book but Can not find the pita pockets recipe. Wherry can I find this

Megan Edwards

Hi Julia, This recipe calls for store-bought pita pockets, but you can use this recipe to make your own: https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/vegan-baked-stuffed/easy-homemade-pita-bread/ Let us know how it turns out!

Lynn Schwartz

DELICIOUS!! I swapped mushrooms for eggplant since my boyfriend is not a fan. I used Dukkah, because I didn’t have any sumac. It was wonderful. I look forward to my leftovers.

Becky

What is Sumac and where can it be purchased or what would I use as a substitute?

Megan Edwards

Hi Becky, Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice and can be found in the spice section of well-stocked supermarkets or in the International Aisle. It has a delicate lemony flavor, so you could substitute ground coriander or lemon zest in its place (although you should cut the substitution measurement in half because it will be more fragrant than actual sumac). Let us know how it goes!

Amanda W

WOW! This is delicious. Every time I have it at work everyone comments about how delicious it looks. The garlic sauce is AMAZING! Really makes the dish.

Debbie

This was soooo good. I didn't have enough garlic for the tahini sauce, so I added some garlic powder. And instead of sumac, I added zaatar, since it has sumac in it, and it's what I had. I will definitely add this to my recipe menu.

Dolores McCluskey

Delicious combination of flavors and easy to pull together! We made extra of the tahini sauce and used it in other recipes.

Carol Lacey

I like this recipe a lot. When I cut the garlic, I let it rest on the cutting board for a while. I have read that letting the garlic sit for a few minutes after cutting releases "good stuff."

About the Author

Headshot of Darshana Thacker

About the Author

Darshana Thacker Wendel

Darshana Thacker Wendel is a whole-food, plant-based chef and former culinary projects manager for Forks Over Knives. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, she is the author of Forks Over Knives: Flavor! She created the recipes for Forks Over Knives Family and was a lead recipe contributor to the New York Times bestseller The Forks Over Knives Plan. Her recipes have been published in The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook, Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook, Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health, and LA Yoga magazine online. Visit DarshanasKitchen.com and follow her on Instagram for more.
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