Chicken Cauliflower Sheet-Pan Shawarma

This recipe is totally inauthentic, but it tastes amazing.  Chicken shawarma is one of my favourite take-out meals, but it's not so easy to make at home.   This version gives you the wonderful flavours of chicken shawarma, with a hit of healthy vegetables and an amazing, easy white garlic sauce.  Serving it on mini-naan bread, taco-style, makes it a decadent, delicious one-pan dinner. 

The recipe is inspired by this one at Food52, but I've made some changes and added the awesome white sauce.  Roasting the veggies and chicken together on one tray makes this one of the most easy and delicious meals I've made in a long time.  

These mini-naan make a perfect serving vessel for the shawarma-flavoured filling, but if you can't find them you can use pita or any other flatbread, warmed until soft.  Or just serve the chicken mixture on its own or over rice.  Just don't forget the sauce!

This white sauce is amazing!  I love this sauce, and I've seen some very complicated recipes for it but this one is so simple, tangy and garlicky, it's perfect with the rich shawarma and naan. 

You've got to try this recipe.  

Ingredients:
For the Shawarma
1 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 medium red onion, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander 
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt 
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
6-8 mini naan, pitas or flour tortillas

For the White Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup greek yogurt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried dill (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar


Directions:
For the Shawarma
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Place the cauliflower and onions in a large bowl and coat with 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix together all the spices, salt and pepper.  Toss half the spice mixture with the cauliflower mixture until it's covered.  Spread the cauliflower mixture on a large sheet pan and roast for 20 minutes.

In the same bowl, coat the chicken thighs with 1 tablespoon oil and the remaining spice mix and let sit at room temperature. 

When the cauliflower has roasted for 20 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and toss the cauliflower. It will have shrunk a bit. Make room on the pan for the chicken thighs and spread them on the pan in a single layer around the cauliflower.  Roast for 20 more minutes, checking halfway through and flipping the chicken and tossing the cauliflower so it doesn't burn.  Some parts of the cauliflower will get quite dark and crispy.  This is good!

Meanwhile make the white sauce. 
Mix all ingredients together until smooth and runny. Taste and adjust seasonings (add more salt or garlic if needed).  Refrigerate until ready to use. 

To assemble:
When the chicken and cauliflower are done, remove the pan from the oven.  Heat naan according to package directions or warm pita or tortillas, or serve over rice.  Pile the chicken mixture on warm bread or rice and drizzle with the white sauce.  

Fall Chicken & Apple Stew

This is a very simple fall stew quick enough for a weeknight but fancy enough for company, which is my favourite category of recipe!  

Also, this recipe makes a ton of stew and the leftovers are great!  The recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine.  Here's what you need for this quick fall stew:

Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are a great thing to have in the freezer for quick meals. They are more flavourful and easier to keep moist when cooking than boneless breasts. I love to grill them, but these ones are cooked in the oven which is nice when the weather is too cold to grill.  

Here's what you need for these:

Spiced Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Dried Apricots

This was a last-minute pantry dinner that turned out very nicely.  I was looking for a way to use some boneless chicken thighs and found this recipe on Epicurious. I adapted it a bit and it was quick and tasty.

Here's what you need:

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon each salt & black pepper

8 skinless boneless chicken thighs

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 large sweet potato, 1 small butternut squash or a combination of both (1.5 lbs total)

1 cup dried apricot halves

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice

1 cinnamon stick

3 cardamom pods

3 whole cloves

First mix the thyme, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper together in a small dish.

You can leave the chicken thighs whole but I like to chop them into bite-sized pieces.  Sprinkle the chicken with the spice mixture.

Chop the onion, heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan over high heat and add the onions.  Sauté about 5 minutes then add the chopped garlic and cook one minute more.

Slide the onions and garlic over to one side of the pan.   Add a  bit more oil.

Then add the chicken to the pan.  Let cook without stirring for 2 minutes to get a brown crust on the meat.

Then flip the chicken and continue to cook for about a minute more.

Chop the dried apricots.

And get your spices ready.

Add the apricots, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves to the chicken in the pan.  (Only 2 cloves!)

Meanwhile peel and dice the sweet potatoes and/or butternut squash.  I just used sweet potatoes this time.

Add the sweet potatoes to the chicken along with the canned tomatoes.

Stir it up, cover and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes until vegetables are tender.

About 5 minutes before the stew is done, cook up some couscous.   This is so easy.  Put a cup of couscous in a pot or bowl.

Add a cup of boiling water.  

Cover and let it stand for about 5 minutes until all the water is absorbed and couscous is tender.

After cooking 30 minutes, remove the lid from the stew and let it simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes to let it thicken up a bit.  Remove the cinnamon stick and the cardamom and cloves if you can.  If not, it's ok but try not to eat a whole clove.  

Portion some couscous onto a bowl or plate.

Then ladle some stew over top.

This was a lovely, spicy winter dish, full of flavour.  Very quick and easy for a weeknight dinner.