P-P-P-P-Pita Chips!

It is the weekend before finals.  Good golly, I've almost survived Fall quarter!  I must make it through this next week first and then it is OVER.  Although next week is officially finals week, it started early for me because I had my first one this past Tuesday morning.  Thus, I've technically been studying since the previous weekend.  And you know what?  I have not been cooking a lot.  It has been lots of my favorite healthy cereals, oatmeal, bean dip, raw veggies, homemade veggie salads, and drumroll.... homemade pita chips.  

Last weekend I was hungry and decided to make a bean dip to be eaten with the usual culprits: celery and carrots.  I felt like having a carb with it and did not want to eat tortilla chips so, luckily, I saw pita bread packs going for 2/$1 at my local market.  And let me tell you--the result was absolutely amazing!  It was not until I had made my own that I realized store-bought pita chips are absolute crap.  I do not know what they do to it but, it tastes so artificial, too heavy with awful seasonings/flavors, nasty-tasting, and ridiculously expensive for a box/bag of... crap.  

Homemade pita chips with my healthy bean dip.  O... M... G... talk about  FLAVORTOWN!

My pita chips are light, crisp but with a slight chew, and super flavorful!  And the best part?  It was extremely affordable and easy to make.  You could probably do it with your eyes closed!  These chips are very tasty, healthy, a great accompaniment to a dip or spectacular just on their own.  I will admit that I gooped up lots of bean dip with these but was totally satisfied noshing them solo.  The reason is because of the money-maker: the dried thyme.  I used dried thyme and it is ridiculous what one herb can do to a food.  It was by pure chance that I decided to do this, too, because I was simply going to do salt and pepper but then saw the thyme that I had picked a few days prior from my mom's and it was dry and I thought, "Hmm, should I?"  Oooh, how I did and you should, too!  It gives the pita chip a very distinct note that translates into hearty and smile-inducing :-)

Hester's Pita Chips

Ingredients:

• 1 package of a pita bread of your choice
• about 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon super-chopped up dried thyme
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Slice the pita bread up into triangles and place on a foiled baking sheet (makes cleaning up that much easier).  Drizzle the EVOO over the wedges and get ONE hand in there to make sure all the sides are coated well with oil.  Use the other hand to sprinkle the salt and pepper, however much depending on you.  Lastly, sprinkle the thyme on top.  Mix up the wedges with your hand to make sure all sides have seasoning on them.  Pop into the oven for about 10-12 minutes.  Remove from the oven and eat warm or after they have cooled, store them in a Ziploc bag... although it definitely will not last long in there! 

Regular pita bread, nothing fancy.

Olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried thyme.  THAT'S IT!

Don't you wish you could just touch the screen and snatch one of these up into your mouth?