{Dining in: Baked grana padano rosemary pita chips and Muhammara linguine}
I have to confess something. I am ADDICTED to Stacy’s pita chips. I only buy a bag once every couple months as a treat, but the other night, the craving hit me…
But instead of going to the store for my chip fix like I usually do, I thought, why not make my own?
So I present to you my baked grana padano rosemary pita crisps.
I had a bag of mini flax breakfast pitas from Costco that I have been neglecting in the fridge, so I split these in half and cut them into triangles. Lay these out on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush one side of each triangle with a swipe of olive oil with my pastry brush. Season with pink salt, ground pepper, chopped rosemary and finely grated grana padano.
Pop into the oven at 375F for 10 minutes till they’re nice and golden and voila, copycat Stacy’s chips 
You could easily make these sweet by subbing in melted butter for the olive oil and sprinkling a mixture of cinnamon sugar
Enjoy these on their own or use them to scoop up a yummy homemade dip..
Which brings me to my second creation tonight. A quick and delicious Muhammara.
What is Muhammara you ask? It’s a hot pepper dip or spread that originates from Aleppo, Syria. The main ingredients are fresh/dried peppers, ground walnuts, breadcrumbs and olive oil. It may also contain garlic, salt, pomegranate molasses and sometimes spices.
* Random fact: It’s the dip that Carrie and her ex-boyfriend were eating in Dubai in the Sex and the City 2 movie*
I made mine with a jar of sweet fire roasted red peppers, a couple of garlic cloves, a heaping handful of raw organic walnuts and panko crumbs.
I blended these all together in my magic bullet along with the juices of the peppers from the jar (to bind the ingredients) and seasoned with salt and pepper.
There you have it! A super quick and easy dip..which also doubles as a sauce for our entree tonight..
Tossed with brown rice linguine cooked to al dente with some reserved pasta water and topped with parmesan cheese for a deliciously flavourful dinner. The pasta was creamy and rich, but had no additional oil or milk in it!
A great dish for those who have allergies to dairy or are vegetarian (minus the parmesan).
We had this alongside a baked citrus mustard tilapia filet (brushed with olive oil, dijon, lemon juice, salt and pepper and baked at 400F for 12 minutes) with a couple spoonfuls of tomato bruschetta.
..and a generous serving of steamed asparagus and stirfried veggies for a well rounded meal.
So nice to come back home to a homemade meal after a weekend of Tim Hortons and junky cafeteria food
Bon appetit.
