We have a game we like to play periodically when we’re have a group of people over — we go around the table and ask each person “if you had to eat one meal everyday for the rest of your life, what would it be?” For my son, this meal would be Chicken Shawarma.
This variation (adapted from the Sam Sifton’s NYT Cooking recipe) is in regular weeknight rotation at our house because it is healthy, can be prepped ahead of time, and is easily scaled up or down depending on how many people are eating that evening. I like to serve it with fresh pita bread (from Oasis Kitchen on Grand Avenue is my favorite), feta cheese, hummus, tzatziki or yogurt lemon sauce, and a veggie side of some sort.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 lemons, juiced
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- A pinch ground cinnamon
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- 1 large red onion, peeled and quartered
DIRECTIONS
Prepare the chicken marinade:
- Combine lemon juice, ½ cup olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon and crushed red pepper in a large bowl, then whisk to combine. Add the chicken and toss well to coat. Cover and store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up overnight.
- When ready to cook, heat the oven to 425 degrees (I have also cooked this on sheet pans in my BBQ with success on hot days when I don’t want to heat up the house). Use the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to grease a rimmed sheet pan or cover the pan with parchment paper for easy clean up.
- Add the quartered onion to the chicken and marinade, and toss once to combine. Remove the chicken and onion from the marinade, and place on the pan, spreading everything evenly across it.
- Put the chicken in the oven and roast until it is browned, crisp at the edges and cooked through, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, allow to rest 2 minutes, then slice into bits. (To make the chicken even more crisp: set a large pan over high heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, then add the sliced chicken and sauté until everything curls tight in the heat.)
Accompaniments for serving:
- Tomatoes, cucumbers, pita, white sauce, hot sauce, olives, fried eggplant, feta, rice — anything goes!
Adapted from the New York Times