Chicken Pitas with Cream Cheese and Dill

I got this recipe from Cara and Clarence. It's very much "to taste" according to your personal preference--I like a lot of dill and a lot of garlic powder, so I adjust accordingly. The great thing is it's also great as leftovers for lunch the next day. Here is the recipe as I got it from my sister.

Chicken Pitas with Cream Cheese and Dill

Recipe makes 6 pitas

Ingredients:

-Pitas (find the kind that's in the refrigerated section by the cheese)
-1-2 chicken breasts, diced (adjust according to how much you want)
-1 red onion
-Romaine lettuce
-sliced olives
-1 lime
-2-3 tomatoes, depending on how much you want
-8 oz cream cheese
-dill, to taste
-garlic powder
-black pepper
-salt

Directions:

Season the chicken with plenty of garlic powder, a little bit of salt, and a good amount of black pepper. You can either fry it in a pan with a little olive oil or grill it.

To make the cream cheese spread: Put the cream cheese in a bowl and add the juice of 1/2 lime to 1 lime, depending on your taste. Add a liberal amount of dried or fresh dill, again according to taste. (We definitely want the dill to stand out so we add a lot.) Add a small amount of juice from the olives. Add a dash of garlic powder, to taste. You want just enough of the lime juice and olive juice to make the cream cheese easy to mix, but it will still have a cream cheese consistency. You also want the mix to taste salty, but not overwhelmingly so.

Wrap the pitas in a towel and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Spread as much of the cream cheese onto the pita as you'd like. More is definitely better.

Top with the chopped chicken, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and sliced olives.

Enjoy!

Food Memory: Borough Market Toasted Cheese.

Of all the food I tried in London, a toasted cheese sandwich was one of my favorites. Melted Montgomery Cheddar cheeses, finely diced leeks and red onion, and garlic sandwiched between buttered Poilane sourdough. The answer you're looking for is Yes.

Kristin and I headed to Borough Market in Southwark one day to see what there was to see and specifically to try the toasted cheese sandwiches. Total heaven. When I got back home I made my own version with gruyere, fontina, and white cheddar on rye, which was pretty good, but nothing like the original. The leeks make the sandwich, so if you decide to try making it, don't leave them out.

This sandwich will always remind me of a warm spring day in London after the morning rain had cleared out, eating a delicious toasted cheese sandwich on the steps near Southwark Cathedral. The memory is that much more important to me because the company that provides such delicious fried goodness (Kappacasein) doesn't trade at Borough Market anymore. I found this notice on their website:

"NEWS: We are no longer trading at Borough Market. We have been forced to find a new home for our market stall after being caught up in a dispute over loyalties. Please come and see us at the reopening of the stall at what will also be our new cheese making premises in Bermondsey."

I'm glad I got to experience it when I did, though, and I will always associate toasted cheese with Borough Market.