Chicken Shawarma

I got this recipe from MyRecipes. It's almost as good as Olive House' recipe. If you don't have enough chicken, you can always substitute pork or turkey. I haven't tried with recipe with beef. Beef may require different spices.

Shawarma is traditionally cooked on a skewer cut in strips that are very thin and rolled in a pita (much like gyro). A much easier at-home method is to cut the meat into really small pieces and cook on the stove or in the oven. I have adjusted the original recipe format to fit this.

Chicken: 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

1 teaspoon chili powder 

2 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil 

3/4 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

3 garlic cloves, minced (the stuff in a store-bought shaker works fine)

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 16 (3-inch) strips (or small cubes. I personally think the smaller the better.)

Sauce:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons tahini

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1 garlic clove, minced (fresh or out of the jar is best)

 

Toppings:

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Onions

Olives

Hummus

Preparation:

1. To prepare chicken, combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss well to coat. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes.
2. To prepare sauce, combine yogurt and next 4 ingredients, stirring with a whisk.
3. Pour a couple tablespoons olive oil into a skillet and preheat. Sautee chicken until cooked through. (roughly 7 minutes)
4. Lightly toast pita bread in a toaster oven/convectional oven, or on a clean frying pan on the stove.
5. Top pita bread (or stuff it, depends on the pita bread) with desired toppings and sauce. I recommend tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, hummus, or olives. Lettuce is not really a Mediterranean thing, so it's okay to skip it. Experiment and see what you like!