Chicken Shawarma

I found this recipe on the Cooking Light website. I had not previously eaten shawarma, in fact I'm not sure that I've ever heard of it. Shawarma is a Middle Eastern dish of garlicky meat or poultry served on pitas. This chicken version is flavored with a savory yogurt sauce. I decided not to go through the process of threading the chicken onto skewers and then grilling. So, I pan fried the chicken strips in a tiny amount of olive oil. Turned out GREAT! The chicken was succulent, perfectly spiced, and really delicious!

Ingredients:

Chicken:

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 16 (3-inch) strips

Sauce:

1/2 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons tahini

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 garlic clove, minced

(Note: Sometimes when I eat tahini, my mouth gets very sensitive. So, I decided not to use the tahini. I added 1 tsp of curry powder to the sauce. It turned out delicious.)

Remaining ingredients:

Cooking spray

4 (6-inch) pitas

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce

8 (1/4-inch-thick) tomato slices

Directions:

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

2. 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.

3. To prepare sauce, combine yogurt and next 4 ingredients (through 1 garlic clove), stirring with a whisk.

4. Thread 2 chicken strips onto each of 8 (12-inch) skewers. Place kebabs on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until done. (This is where I deviated from the recipe. I opted to just fry the chicken pieces in a non-stick skillet with a small amount of olive oil.)

5. Place pitas on grill rack; grill 1 minute on each side or until lightly toasted. Place 1 pita on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1/4 cup lettuce and 2 tomato slices. Top each serving with 4 chicken pieces; drizzle each serving with 2 tablespoons sauce.

Click here for printable recipe.