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One day when we were Paris we grabbed our maps and slipped out of our apartment for an adventure. We had a huge list of places to eat with L’As Du Fallafel somewhere in the middle of the page titled, “The Best of Paris”. The list was made for us by our good friend Bill who loves food as much as, if not more than we do. He lived in Paris for years and undoubtably/enviably ate his way across the incredible city. We got off the metro and walked through the bumpy streets of Marais, until we spotted the bright, colorful restaurant. Then we stood in a long line on a warm fall day and, when it was our turn, ordered pitas stuffed with the most insanely delicious eggplant, red cabbage, and tahini. There’s never any seating so you just take your fallefel and walk until you find a park bench or a curb then you sit down and savor every bite. When you’re finished licking your fingers you only wish you had room to eat another.

I wouldn’t call this recipe a replication of that amazing fallafel, but it holds us over in between trips to Paris. The eggplant is marinated in lots of olive oil and smoked paprika and the tzatziki is flavorful and has a little bite. We devour these hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They remind me just a tiny bit of Paris.

PITAS WITH GRILLED EGGPLANT AND TZATZIKI

Ingredients for Pitas:.
pita bread
feta cheese
1 large eggplant, cut into large chunks
1/2 red cabbage, cut into shreds
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 lemon, zested
1 teaspoon fresh dill, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
smoked paprika
dried oregano
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
kosher salt

Ingredients for Tzatziki.
1 large slice red onion
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon fresh dill, minced
1 lemon, zested
juice from 1/2 lemon
3/4 cucumber, zested and water squeezed out
kosher salt

Directions.
Place the chicken in a large bowl with olive oil, a large pinch of salt and pepper, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, the dill, lemon zest, and 1 garlic clove. Toss to coat and set aside.

Place the eggplant in a large bowl with a large pinch of salt and pepper, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, dried parsley, 2 garlic cloves. Drizzle in 1/4 cup of olive oil. Toss and add more olive oil until the eggplant is pretty saturated. Set aside.

To make the tzatziki place all of the ingredients except for the cucumber in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Transfer to a bowl and toss in the cucumber. Mix together and set aside.

Heat up the grill on medium high. Grill the chicken and eggplant directly on the grill. For the eggplant, gently toss and turn periodically until it’s nice and dark in color, remove from the grill. For the chicken turn once, check to be sure it’s cooked through and remove from the grill.

Fill your pitas with the chicken, eggplant, cabbage, feta cheese and tzatziki. Enjoy!

PRINTABLE RECIPE.
PITAS WITH GRILLED EGGPLANT AND TZATZIKI