Chicken Shawarma Salad
Big Salads for lunch when I’m working from home
I love a huge salad. I like multiple dressings and textures in my salad. And the best part is, there are NO RULES to make a kick-ass salad. I typically use a mixture of greens as a base but again, since there are no rules if you don’t want leafy greens don’t use them. I recently discovered that using a large serving bowl that is less deep and more wide & flat works amazingly well. It’s my new go-to salad bowl.
I am a person that likes variety. I am married to a man that could eat the same things over and over for the rest of his life. I’ll do leftovers for a day and often those leftovers end up in salads (or I eat them for breakfast).
On Monday night my daughter had her first softball game of the season. It was either eat dinner at 4:30 before we left or sometime between 8 & 9 when we got home. I packed salads for us to eat at the field so I could eat at a normal time. I adapted the Serious Eats Halal Cart Style Chicken and Rice Recipe (no rice) to make it quick and easy. In the early afternoon, I got the chicken marinating and by the time I was home from the dentist, it was ready to cook! With two pounds of chicken, I had leftover for lunch the next day; it was divine.
I don’t know about you but I never have enough time and I’m always feeling behind. I try to buy the bagged/clamshell salads as often as possible because washing greens is a pain. I have jars and jars of pickles and olives and hot peppers in my fridge that add tons of flavor and require no prep. Take shortcuts when you can it’ll save your sanity. If I was not working full-time and being a chauffeur for my kids I would (I hope) have more time to do it all. But I don’t have that time but I still want to eat food that tastes great!
Chicken Shwarma Salad (for lunch or dinner)
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup light olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat (6 to 8 thighs)
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
To make the chicken marinade, add all ingredients to a blender.
Add chicken to a ziploc bag then add marinade. Marinate for 1-4 hours. If you don’t have that kind of time, leave on the counter for 30 minutes.
Remove thighs from marinade, and cook in a cast iron pan or grill. I cook on medium heat for about 6-7 minutes per side. Let chicken cool then dice.
For the salad:
4 C greens- I used arugula and baby red romaine for this one
1 Persian cucumber diced, use a regular cucumber if you want, who cares!
1-2 pickles, diced- I LOVE pickles are they are so freaking good in salads
8-10 pepperoncini rings- chopped
Mama Lil’s pickled goathorn peppers- they have a kick so use as many or as few as you’d like. I generally use 3-4 and chop them
1 heart of palm- my daughter loves these and she left one in the fridge!
Air fried chickpeas - find the recipe here
Feta Cheese
White Sauce- recipe below
White Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Add all ingredients together and mix to combine. Salt & pepper to taste.
Method:
Dice all your veggies & chicken.
Add your greens to your bowl, salt them or not (I don’t).
Add your diced veggies.
Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Top with air-fried chickpeas & feta cheese.
Add your white sauce.
Mix it all together and enjoy!
I had a piece of toast with baba ganoush on the side; so good.