Pork in Pita Pockets
Better Homes and Gardens New Grilling Book Copyright 2005
2 pounds lean boneless pork
¼ cup cooking oil
¼ cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely snipped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
1 clove garlic, minced
4 to 5 large pita rounds, halved crosswise
1 recipe Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce
1. Trim fat from pork. Cut pork into 1-inch cubes. Place cubes in self-sealing plastic bag set in a shallow dish. For marinade, in a bowl combine oil, onion, lemon juice, parsley, marjoram, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Pour over pork; seal bag. Marinate in refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.
2. Drain pork, discarding marinade. On 8 to 10 long metal skewers, thread pork cubes, leaving ¼-inch space in between cubes.
3. For a charcoal grill, grill kabobs on the rack of an uncovered grill, directly over medium coals for 12 to 15 minutes or until pork is no longer pink and juices run clear, turning once halfway through grilling. (For gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place kabobs on grill rack over heat. Cover, grill as above.)
4. Serve pork cubes in pita bread. Top with some of the Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce. If desired, top each with tomato and lettuce.
Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce: In a medium bowl stir together one 8-ounce carton plain yogurt, ½ cup finely chopped cucumber, 1 tablespoon chopped onion, 1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt. Cover and chill up to 24 hours.
Makes 8 to 10 servings. Per serving: 303 cal, 11 g fat, 64mg chol, 310 mg sodium, 20 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 29 g protein
___________________________
I found a pork tenderloin in the freezer and this recipe caught my eye since my main grocery store has started carrying Fage yogurt! I was surprised since they're the least exotic out of all of my local grocery store options. I can get Greek yogurt in Wal-Mart now too but it's not Fage.
I can't stand regular plain yogurt but Greek yogurt is excellent. I didn't have to doctor up this sauce, unlike last time I made it. I debated adding a clove of garlic, which I think would have made it better but I'm trying to avoid too much garlic for the baby's sake.
I prefer chicken souvlaki and I prefer the pocketless pitas (grilled with butter) but this was good too. It was kind of a pain to thread all that pork though. If I did this again, I'd toss the cubes on the Griddler or use a grill rack so I didn't have to use the skewers.
Last week, my grocery bill was under $100. That hasn't happened in I don't know how long. I really controlled myself and my total was $99.56. It's time to get strict, since we'll have two kids in daycare in less than two weeks.
I've got more to catch up on but there's just too much to do around here.
Question of the Day: Have you tried Greek yogurt? What do you think of it? I prefer it when I need plain yogurt. I've only tried one flavored Greek yogurt and I actually prefer several non-Greek varieties when it comes to flavored yogurt, so far.
Being Armenian, our yogurt is just like Greek yogurt. We call it matzoon! Did you know that the founder of Columbo yogurt was Armenian? :) There is nothing better than having yogurt with honey and nuts for dessert in Astoria, Queens, after some greek food!
ReplyDeleteI like greek yogurt, too, it's so much thicker and somehow just tastes better than "regular" plain yogurt. (I haven't tried any fruit flavored, though, as it's kind of expensive)
ReplyDeleteIt's called pork in pita pockets because even in 2005, the use of the term souvlaki must have been too ethnic sounding for Better Homes and Gardens!
ReplyDelete