Easy Recipe for Spicy Avocado in Pita

One of my favorite options for a quick healthy lunch is this Spicy Avocado in Pita.

(Updated May 2013 with better photos and step-by-step instructions.  I've been making this Spicy Avocado in Pita regularly since I first posted it in 2006!)  If you're going to stick with any kind of healthy eating plan you need some easy and healthy options for times when you just don't want to cook, and this is one of my favorite things to make for an easy lunch or dinner, especially whenever avocados are on sale. It's nothing more complicated than avocado mashed with a fork, spiced up with a bit of chile powder and salt, and then eaten in a 100% whole wheat pita pocket or Foldit with a bit of lettuce.  (The same whole wheat pita I use for this is also great to cut into triangles, crisp in the oven a little, and use instead of chips for any kind of dip or hummus, for another easy and healthy snack or lunch.)

Recipe for Grilled Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Sausage, Spinach, and Cheese

These Grilled Portobello Mushrooms are stuffed with sausage, spinach, and cheese, but you could easily make this a vegetarian recipe as well.

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and since it's finally grilling weather again, how about making these Grilled Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Sausage, Spinach, and Cheese over the weekend?)
 
Portobello mushrooms are something I haven't cooked with nearly often enough, and they're a wonderfully healthy ingredient, particularly popular with people who are looking for something besides meat to cook on the grill. This isn't a vegetarian recipe since the mushrooms are stuffed with spicy Italian sausage, but I think the idea could easily be adapted to a vegetarian stuffed mushroom, maybe even replacing the sausage with diced portobellos.

Leafy Greens Salad with Roasted Chickpeas, Feta, and Mediterranean Sumac Dressing

This Leafy Greens Salad with Roasted Chickpeas and Feta is perfect for Mediterranean Dressing with Sumac, but if you don't want to make the dressing any lemony vinaigrette will work.

Now that you've seen my new favorite salad dressing, I thought I'd show you a salad that's just perfect for the Shake-in-a-Jar Mediterranean Dressing with Red Wine Vinegar, Lemon Juice, and Sumac.  This is the type of salad I might make if I was having friends for dinner and wanted a side salad that was a bit of a wow, or I'd eat a double portion of it for a big lunch salad.  There are endless salad combinations that would taste good with the Mediterranean Sumac Dressing, but the leafy greens, roasted chickpeas (also called garbanzos), and Feta in this salad really complement the dressing.