We are off to Maui tomorrow… eeeeek! I am incredibly excited, not just to be in paradise, but to escape this endless winter we’ve been having here in Edmonton.
S.e.r.i.o.u.s.l.y. It is still snowing almost every day. While it does warm up in the afternoons enough for most of the snow to melt, let me repeat… it’s still snowing! Needless to say, I’m eager to be transported to warm waters, sandy beaches, sunny skies, and Mai Tai’s!
This past week we’ve been busy packing, doing some spring cleaning, and I’ve been doing my best to use up everything in the fridge that needs to be eaten so I don’t come home to anything mouldy (yuck!). This brings me to today’s recipe! The perfect, delicious, healthy batch meal that will use up your extra cucumber, tomatoes, and onions, herbs, and chicken.
I’m a huge fan of Lebanese food, with a bit of mediterranean flair, fresh ingredients, savoury spices, and tasty sauces, I’m sold.
There’s a little dive spot in our city that serves the most amazing Lebanese dishes and my hubby and I often lean on it as our go-to when we are indecisive about what to order on Skip The Dishes. After realizing we were spending far too much money ordering from this spot, I decided to come up with my own homemade dish reminiscent of my go-to meal.
This chicken shawarma plate is fresh, lemony, loaded with herbs and vegetables, and filled with perfectly roasted spiced chicken thighs.
The tahini sauce is creamy, tart, slightly sweet, garlicky and oh-so-wonderful drizzled over the shawarma chicken, tabouleh salad, and rice. Then, to top it all off are the easiest quick pickled onions from Kitchn that anyone can make.
With a mix of protein from the chicken, healthy fats from the tahini sauce and olive oil throughout the recipe, carbohydrates from the rice and vegetables, this dish is also pretty well balanced and won’t leave you feeling sluggish or bogged down.
Now, I have to warn you – at your first look at the recipe you might think it’s way too complicated. I know, the ingredients list is really, really long, especially for NITK. But, trust me when I say that this recipe is a lot more simple to make than it looks.
Once the chicken is in the oven, roasting away, it’s really quite easy to whip up the tabouleh salad, pickled onions (which are totally optional), and the tahini sauce. Plus, while you may need to put in a little extra time to make the recipe, you’ll have leftovers to last you a couple of days which actually saves you more time in the long run.
Win, win!
If you have extra cucumber, tomato, onions, parsley, dill, lemon, or chicken that needs to be eaten soon, here’s a great way to use them up and satisfy your savoury tooth.
Be sure to follow along over on Instagram and Facebook as I’ll be sharing parts of our Maui trip and the healthy spots we are enjoying along the way!
Are you a fan of Lebanese food? What’s your favourite dish? I’d love to read about it in the comments below!
- Chicken Shawarma:
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed
- ½ tablespoon paprika
- ½ tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon tumeric
- 1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar (or any other kind of granulated sugar)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- juice from 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 'Tabouleh' Salad:
- 1½ cups diced cucumber
- 2 vine tomatoes, diced
- ½ cup curly parsley, chopped finely
- ½ cup flat parsley, chopped finely
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
- juice from 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- Tahini Sauce:
- 1½ tablespoons tahini paste
- juice from 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat parsley
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspooon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 tablespoons water
- Quick Pickled Onions:
- Recipe Here
- Other Plate Ingredients/Garnishes:
- 3 cups cooked brown or white jasmine rice (follow package instructions)
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- ½ cup fresh deli sprouts
- 1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large bowl add the shawarma herbs and spices (paprika, parsley, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, coconut palm sugar, salt, and pepper) and mix to combine.
- Add in the lemon juice, zest, olive oil, and crushed garlic then mix again to combine with the dry spice mix.
- Add the chicken thighs to the bowl and toss with the spice mixture to coat the chicken thighs.
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper and arrange the chicken thighs over the pan.
- Add the chicken to the oven to roast for 30 minutes, then broil for an additional 3 minutes or until crispy on the edges.
- While the chicken is roasting prepare the tabouleh salad, tahini sauce, and pickled onions.
- Prepare the pickled onions following the linked recipe (place in the fridge and once the chicken is finished and the full shawarma plate is assembled, the onions will be ready!)
- For the tabouleh salad, add all of the ingredients in a large bowl, toss to combine and set in the fridge to chill.
- For the tahini sauce, add the sauce ingredients to a small food processor or blender and blend until completely smooth, then transfer to a bowl and set in the fridge to chill.
- Once the chicken is finished roasting (and broiling) remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing into smaller pieces.
- To assemble the chicken shawarma plate: add ½ cup cooked rice to the plate, top with ⅙ of the shawarma chicken and tabouleh salad, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the tahini sauce, garnish with the pickled onions, sprouts, fresh sprouts, and a squeeze of fresh lemon.
- Enjoy!
Have a wonderful Sunday!
That looks soooo good! My kids love shawarma so much. Can’t wait to make this for them. Thanks for sharing!
It’s one of our favourite meals now! You are very welcome, hope your family enjoys as much as mine 🙂