A Trip to the Middle East: Chicken Shawarma

Let me start by saying thank you for following Nutritious Eats and being patient with me over the last few weeks. I haven’t had the quality time I’d like to spend on this blog lately, but I do have another exciting project under way which I’ll share a little later, plus we’re moving in less than 3 weeks….phase one started today when the movers packed up the first round (and majority) of our belongings! We are taking a few weeks to spend time with friends and family in Texas and then will drive to Missouri and hopefully have a home waiting for us to move into! I just hope that it happens quickly so that I am not out of a kitchen for weeks. If you haven’t already, please join me on my facebook page where you can be in touch when I am not posting here!

So moving on to better things….food! I’ve been hungry lately. The stress of moving always does it to me. I feel like I am constantly burning calories with the packing, organizing, taking trash out….stressing. You know the feeling. What I want lately is simple, yet hearty food.

One of my favorite foods ever is a gyro. It’s not something I eat very often (I don’t even want to look up the calories and fat grams in that sandwich!!), but being part Greek I grew up eating a lot of the Mediterranean foods- lamb, dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), spanikopita, etc. and I love the flavors. One of my favorite restaurants as a kid was Demos Greek Food in San Antonio. They had the best gyros and fries. The hearty sandwich filled with lamb slices and garlicky tzatziki sauce will forever hold a fond memory in my heart.

Enter the Shawarma. The Shawarma, a Middle Eastern sandwich-like wrap of thinly sliced meat, such as chicken, beef or lamb is rolled into a large flatbread or pita and topped with veggies, hummus, tahini, even french fries! Think of it as a middle eastern taco. The spices and toppings are a little different than the gyro, but depending on the recipe can taste similar.

When I made this chicken shawarma it reminded me of a healthy version of the gyro. The garlicky yogurt sauce is a must- I smother mine with it. My kids even liked this (of course they took out all the veggies, but I was still happy they ate it!)! The spices in the chicken combined with the refreshing cucumber, tomatoes and onions is a flavor explosion, but a much healthier choice than the high fat lamb sandwich.

If you are looking for something different, easy and tasty, try this recipe. You’ll love it!

Chicken Shawarma

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
1/3 cup, plus 2 Tablespoons Greek yogurt, dived
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 wheat pitas or flatbread
1/2 english cucumber, sliced lengthwise into 3 inch pieces
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
Red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1. To slice the chicken, cut the breast in half lengthwise. Then cut each half into 2 to 3 inch pieces. “Thinly sliced” chicken breasts would be great for this recipe.

2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl (chicken through coriander); add 2 Tablespoons yogurt, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 2 garlic cloves. Toss well to coat chicken in marinade. Marinate for a few hours if possible, but not necessary. Heat olive oil in  large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken mixture to pan; saute ~8 minutes (4 minutes per side, flipping once) until lightly browned and done.

3. While chicken cooks, mix remaining 1/3 cup yogurt, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 1 garlic clove and a touch of salt, stirring well. Spread 1 Tablespoon yogurt mixture on pita bread, top with chicken, cucumber, tomato and red onion slices. Sprinkle with a shake or two of red pepper flakes if desired. Serves 4.

COOK”S NOTES: The recipe originally called for a good amount of red pepper flakes in the marinade before you cook the chicken, but I omitted it since I was serving these to my kids and just added a few shakes to my sandwich after assembly. If you like it spicy and are cooking for adults, you can add up to 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes in the marinade.

Recipe modified from Cooking Light

Nutritious Eats Benefits: protein, whole grains, Vitamin C, antioxidants