This is one of my favorite summer paleo dinners! Chicken Shawarma Salad is an incredibly flavorful, fresh, and elegant weeknight dinner. The greens are tossed with mint and parsley, then topped with crunchy cucumbers, garden-fresh tomatoes, and tender slivers of red onion. Each bite is crisp, bright and bursting with flavor.
Chicken Shawarma is a regular eat in this house and it appears on our table in one form or another every couple of weeks.
When take-out is required we turn to our favorite local spot, Fettoosh. The owner is affable and chatty, and regularly greets us with chilled mint tea in the summer and a bone-warming concoction in the winter. Going to his restaurant is more like visiting a fond acquaintance than a retail transaction – it makes me all warm and fuzzy, and that’s exactly what sharing good food is supposed to do.
Naturally, I also like to make homemade shawarma from time to time because duh. It’s a showstopper of a meal for company, and even my pickiest friends and family devour every bite.
I typically serve it with homemade pita, cucumber and tomato salad, super smooth hummus, and maybe some yogurt dip. Lots of tahini dressing on the side for slathering and dipping. Leftovers keep reasonably well and make for a quick and easy lunch wrap the next day.
On days that I’m feeling particularly healthy and/or lazy, I opt for this chicken shawarma salad in lieu of the full platter. I whip up the quick marinade in the morning, then toss it with the chicken where it infuses with flavor in the fridge all day. One 30-minute roast later, and I’ve got an easy, healthy paleo dinner that everyone loves. Even the kid.
CHICKEN SHAWARMA SALAD RECIPE NOTES
I’ve always been a big believer in NOT reinventing the wheel, and this philosophy rings true throughout my kitchen and my life in general. While I might tweak and adjust things to my personal preference, tried-and-true is tried-and-true. Ain’t no reason to change what works.
Because developing authentic middle eastern recipes isn’t exactly in my wheelhouse, I’ve been trying variations for a few years in search of the perfect make-at-home chicken shawarma. At this point I’m pretty sure I’ve tried them all and this recipe that I’ve adapted from NY Time is perfection.
Their oven roasted chicken shawarma recipe is the freaking bomb. It comes the closest in terms of flavor, and the execution is stupid easy. Mix, marinate, roast.
While this recipe is perfect as-is, I do make a couple of modifications. I omit the red onion and instead toss it raw into the salad greens. Same with the parsley garnish. I also reduce the garlic by half, because it’s a bit overwhelming in a salad situation.
For the salad base, I like to use a mix of romaine and butter lettuce tossed with chopped parsley and mint. It’s the perfect sweet, crunchy, fresh blend. I found some gorgeous tomatoes at the market, so in they went, along with half an english cucumber and some thinly sliced red onion.
Other nice salad additions? Pickled red onions instead of raw, chopped olives, pita chips, grilled eggplant, marinated chick peas, feta…you get the picture. It’s your salad – be creative!
Top the whole ensemble off with tangy, bright tahini dressing and you’ve got a fresh, delicious salad ready in just about 30 minutes.
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