Sheet pan dinners are all the rage these days, a simple meal to put together, and relatively easy clean up. You basically put the marinated protein and vegetables all on a sheet pan and roast it. Serve along side a salad or chopped veggies and pita or lemon rice in this case. Heres how I put this Shawarma dinner together.
This recipe is no way traditional because shawarma is seasoned meat that is roasted on a rotating spit, then shaved into a pita along with condiments and veggies. We marinated cauliflower and a little chicken with the same seasoning and roasted them in the oven. You could make this dinner all cauliflower to keep it vegetarian which is what I make most times, but occasionally Ill add some chicken pieces when the kids are around.
SERVES ABOUT 4
INGREDIENTS
- About 1 lb organic chicken thighs and breast combined
- 1 head cauliflower, trimmed should be about 2 lbs
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon Greek or regular dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 ½ tbsps garlic minced, about 6-8 cloves
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½-1 tsp cayenne pepper, more if you prefer hotter
- Sea Salt
- Juice from 1 large lemon
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Serving suggestions
- pita pockets
- Turmeric lemon rice
- Tahini sauce
- Baby tomatoes
- diced cucumbers
- Pickled veggies or kalamata olives
- In a small bowl, mix together the spices; oregano, turmeric, ground cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, cloves, all spice, and cayenne.
- Place chicken pieces in a bowl. Season all over with salt. Add half the spice mix, 2 tablespoons of oil, and minced garlic. Toss to coat. Let sit for an hour at room temperature or overnight refrigerated, I prefer the latter.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF and position a rack in the center. Place cauliflower florets and onion on the sheet pan. Season with salt, pepper to taste, and the remaining spice mix and 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Using your hands toss the cauliflower and onions evenly with the spiced oil mix. Nestle the chicken pieces between the veggies. I also throw in a few pieces of sliced lemons, love grilled lemons. Making sure it’s in a single layer. Transfer pan to the oven and roast for about 30 minutes, tossing once after about 20 minutes.
- Warm up some naan, cut the lemons, and prep the salad veggies. When chicken has rested, transfer it to a platter. Taste. Adjust the salt and pepper if needed and squeeze a lemon over everything, if desired. To serve, spread naan with yogurt sauce, nestle chicken and cauliflower inside, and eat taco-style. Alternatively, serve the naan on the side and eat with a knife and fork. Serve lemon wedges on the side. Third option serve it with lemon rice.
- To make the lemon rice. Wash about 1 cup of basmati rice. In a sauce pan heat 1 tablespoon oil add the rice and gently mix to coat the oil all over the rice. Add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, salt, cracked pepper and 1.5 cups of water and cook till rice is cooked. right before serving squeeze 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice and mix well.
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