Tasty Meat Filled Pitas

I love this recipe from Aarti Party on the Food Network for Arayes which are meat filled pockets of deliciousness. Aarti served these as an appetizer, but I serve them as a meal. They are a great alternative to the classic hamburger. I have made these several times and have varied the ingredients as to what I have on hand. My daughter requested I make this one this week. I served them this time with some lentils and carrots that cooked up in about 25-30 minutes.

Lebanese Meat Filled Pockets

6 halves of whole wheat pitas cut in half

1/2 bunch of chopped cilantro or parsley
1 lb ground beef
1 large Roma tomato diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tsp lemon juice
salt
oil the pan

Heat an oven to 400 degrees. I mix this by hand or you can use a food processor. Take the 12 pita pockets and stuff with about 2 TBSP of the meat mixture. Place on a oiled baking sheet. You will have some oil from the meat draining on to the pan. Bake for 20 minutes. I press the pitas down about half way through baking and flip them over. You can serve them with your favorite yogurt sauce or lentils like I did.

Carrots and  Lentils

1/2 bag of lentils
4 cups chicken broth
2 carrots cut into coins
salt and pepper

I rinsed the lentils and placed them in the chicken broth and covered them with a lid but left room for venting. I boiled them on high heat checking for the liquid level. The liquid should be covering the lentils. Check them periodically for liquid and stir. Check for doneness at the 15 minutes mark. Season with salt and pepper.