Chicken Shawarma

Have you ever eaten an amazing meal at a restaurant and wanted to rush home and try to recreate it?  This happens to me a lot, most recently during a visit to Saint Louis to see my friend, Michelle.  We went to this delicious Middle Eastern restaurant called Ranoush in "the Loop".  I had the Chicken Shawarma and Michelle had the Falafel.  I made the chicken for Dan a couple weekends ago and I hope to make the Falafel when we go visit Dan's brother Kyle and his family.  They have recently decided to follow a vegan diet, and Falafel is perfect for that! Stay tuned in the next couple weeks for the falafel.  Ok, back to the Shawarma... it is a pita filled with grilled chicken marinated with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and curry powder. Served with a tahini (sesame) paste or yogurt based sauce and sliced tomatoes.  I did a google search for a recipe and went with one featured on Rachel Ray's $40 a Day.  I normally run as fast as I can from a Rachel Ray recipe, I'm not sure why, maybe because I know there is probably a better recipe out there. But, this recipe is not hers, but actually from the restaurant featured in her show.  It turned out to be a great recipe.  The sauce in the recipe is a traditional tahini sauce, but at Ranoush they served the Shawarma with a yogurt-based sauce.  The tahini sauce is really great poured over the chicken.  It is made with tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, water, and salt.  It tastes like really thin hummus.  However, I think I preferred the yogurt sauce (made with essentially the same ingredients, just with yogurt and less tahini) and will try making it with the falafel.  Here is the recipe and pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Shawarma

Recipe courtesy Cafe Mediterranean

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 5 drops yellow food coloring, optional  (omitted)
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used tenders, no chopping involved)
• 4 pieces pita bread
• 1 tomato, chopped
• Shawarma Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

To make the marinade: In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, and oil. Add curry powder, salt, pepper, and food coloring and whisk to combine. Add chicken and coat with marinade. Marinate chicken overnight in the refrigerator. (I only marinated for 3-4 hours)

Preheat a grill to medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade. Grill chicken for about 10 minutes on each side or until fully cooked through. Serve chicken on pita and top with tomatoes and Shawarma Sauce.

Shawarma Sauce: (I cut this recipe in half for you, and reduced the water)
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup store-bought tahini
1/2-1 cup water (just add a little at a time until you reach a good consistency, it should be pretty thin)
1/4 cup lemon juice
Salt

Add garlic to the bowl of a food processor and process until chopped. Add tahini and pulse to combine. With the machine running, slowly add cold water until frothy. Add lemon juice and mix until creamy. Season with salt, to taste.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/40-a-day/chicken-shawarma-recipe/index.html