Chicken Shawarma

Mario and I have always been big fans of Lebanese food. In particular, we love shawarmas. There is no shortage of Lebanese take out places here in Ottawa where we live and when we were in University, we frequented many of them (usually in the early hours of the morning).

I have experimented several times with making shawarmas at home, but I think it's just one of those things that you will never quite get right without the proper equipment, techniques and of course the secret recipe for that amazing garlic sauce (yum).

When I saw this recipe for chicken shawarmas in the July 2008 issue of Cooking Light magazine, I knew I had to try it. It didn't quite have the taste of an authentic Lebanese shawarma, but we thought this recipe was very good in its own right. The marinade on the chicken was great, and I could eat my chicken breasts just marinated and grilled this way anytime. The sauce was very good, and was probably way healthier than the sauce you would normally get on a shawarma.

Overall, we thought this recipe was a keeper.

Chicken Shawarma
adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, July 2008

Chicken:
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into strips

Sauce:
1/2 cup fat free plain yoghurt
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, minced

Other ingredients:
Pita bread
Chopped lettuce
Tomato slices
Chopped red onion

1. Combine first 6 ingredients of marinade. Cut chicken into strips (I cut each breast into 3 strips) and pour marinade over chicken in a Ziploc bag. Marinade in fridge all day (or overnight).

2. To prepare sauce, combine yoghurt and next 4 ingredients. Mix well. The sauce can be made ahead and stored in the fridge.

3. Preheat barbeque grill. Shake the excess marinade off the chicken and thread on barbeque skewers. Grill for approximately 4 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through.

4. Place pita bread on the grill for a minute or two to warm.

5. To serve, place lettuce tomato and onion on top of the pita bread. Top with chicken and drizzle with sauce.

Tuna and Cheese Strata

Here is a great little weekend lunch that I make sometimes for Mario and the kids. Claire and Marco just love this, and then there is usually one piece leftover for Mario to take to work for lunch.

This recipe started out as a brunch recipe with Ham and Cheese, but one time I decided to use tuna and make it for lunch. It was even more popular, like a crunchy tuna melt. I think this is a pretty healthy lunch for the kids. I use skim milk and light cheddar cheese. In order to make sure they had some vegetables, I sliced some cucumber and carrot sticks to go alongside. They used the vegetables to make faces on their sandwiches and then discarded them. But hey, I did my job!


Tuna and Cheese Strata

8 slices of bread
1 can tuna
1/4 cup miracle whip
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup crushed cornflakes

1. Spray an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray and arrange 4 slices of bread on the bottom.

2. Drain tuna and mix with miracle whip. Spread evenly on top of bread. Top tuna with grated cheddar.

3. Cover with remaining 4 slices of bread.

4. Mix together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, dry mustard, worchestershire sauce and onion. Pour over bread. Let sit for and hour or so (I usually put this together right after breakfast on the weekend and then let it sit until 11:30 or so, and pop it in the oven).

5. Melt butter and stir into crushed cornflakes. Right before putting in the oven, spread cornflakes over top of bread. Bake at 350F for 1 hour. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

Stromboli

There was a Halloween Potluck at work yesterday and all my co-workers dressed up. I dressed up like a pregnant woman to freak my boss out, but I don't think he was fooled. Oh well, no year off work for me...

At our last work potluck lunch on Canada Day, I brought my Layered Party Sandwich. Since I never like to do the same thing twice, I had to come up with an original idea for Halloween. I like to do a main dish because there always seems to be an over-abundance of crackers and cheese and veggies and dip. So this time I made a Stomboli (which is actually just the same thing as the Layered Party Sandwich put together a slightly different way - but shhhh).

This is very easy to make. I have made this before with homemade bread dough (which makes it better, and less fattening), but I just didn't want to wake up at 4am to get started (because the dough needs to rise). Using Pillsbury Crescent rolls is a nice foolproof alternative.

And again, as with the Layered Party Sandwich, there wasn't any leftover to bring home to Mario, and I even made two loaves. But I will make it again sometime for home.

And, just so you know, it wouldn't normally be quite so flat, but I brought in my tray and put in the fridge at work, and some other people came along and put their stuff on top of it (grrrr). So my Stomboli got squished!


Stromboli
makes 1 loaf

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1 lb assorted Italian Style Cold Cuts (e.g. capicolla, proscuitto, genoa salami)
8 slices provolone cheese
4 whole roasted red peppers
1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup basil pesto
1 egg

1. Lay out crescent dough and pinch all the seams together. Roll out until you have a rectangle about 16" by 12" (roughly).

2. Spread basil pesto generously all over dough. Leave a 1" border around the edge.

3. Across the bottom of the long edge lay a row of one type of cold cut (don't be skimpy). Then above that, but overlapping a little, a row of cheese (about 4 slices). Then the next type of cold cut, another row of cheese, and the last row of cold cuts.

4. On top of the first row of coldcuts, arrange the roasted red peppers and the sliced onions.

5. Starting with the long edge, roll the entire thing up like a jelly roll. Fold the ends under to seal.

6. Beat the egg slightly, and brush over the top of the loaf.

7. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 375F.

Layered Party Sandwich

I made this sandwich last week for a Canada Day Potluck lunch at work. This is a great recipe for a crowd and it is really easy to make. A couple of people asked me how I got all the sandwich fillings inside the bread. I told them that my method was even more highly guarded than the "Caramilk Secret". But, as most of my close friends could tell you, I've never been much good at keeping secrets...

The entire time I was making these sandwiches for work (I made two), Mario was hovering around, eating some of my cheese and coldcuts. I have to say it is a major pet peeve of mine, when Mario comes into the kitchen and starts picking or tasting what I am making before it is done. He has come very close on several occasions to losing his fingers to the end of my fork.

I promised that I would bring home the leftovers, but there were none.

Layered Party Sandwich

2 tubs (250g) garlic and chive cream cheese
1 package each deli roast beef, pastrami, and turkey breast
9 slices each swiss cheese and cheddar cheese
2 tomatoes
1/2 sweet onion
olive oil
vinegar
salt and pepper
loaf pumpernickel bread

1. Cut slice off top of loaf and remove inside (freeze insides to make breadcrumbs later).

2. Spread a thick layer of cream cheese all over the inside and the top of the bread. Make sure no bread is showing as this is what keeps the sandwich from becoming soggy.

3. Begin to layer ingredients. Start with cheese layer (swiss then cheddar), coming up the sides slightly.

4. Add a layer of each type of meat.

5. Add a layer of tomatoes and sliced onion. After each addition of tomato and onion, drizzle with oil, vinegar and add salt and pepper.

6. Compress very tightly as you go.

7. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Slice each loaf into 8-12 wedges. (you can make this a day in advance and it stays perfect)

Fish Tacos

This is one of the only ways that I can really get my kids to eat much fish. But that is OK, because we all really enjoy eating our fish this way. The first time I had a fish taco was in Belize and the fish was deep fried and it was unbelievably good. I certainly don't want to deep fry at home, so I broil the fish and it still turns out very nice.

I lightened this recipe by using egg whites, and cooking spray and low fat miracle whip in the Tartar sauce. But you don't have to do it that way. If you use a whole egg to bread the fish, pan fry in a little oil and make the tartar sauce with full fat mayo, it would probably be even yummier...

In the picture, the tacos are served with a mixed green salad and a carrot and raisin salad. Yes, that was one heck of a lot of lettuce!

Fish Tacos

4 flour tortillas
4 fillets of white fish (I used snapper)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup egg whites
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup bread crumbs
cooking spray

Tartar Sauce:
1 cup mayonnaise (I used light Mirable Whip)
2 tbsp finely diced green onion
1/2 cup finely diced dill pickles
1 1/2 tsp chopped capers
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Mix all the ingredients for the tartar sauce and set aside.

2. On a plate, mix together the cornmeal and the breadcrumbs.

3. Dry the fish on paper towel. Dredge with flour, dip into egg whites and then into cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture.

4. Spray the outside of the fish on both sides with cooking spray and place under pre-heated broiler rack for about 5 minutes on each side or until the fish is cooked.

5. Meanwhile, heat a dry skillet over high heat and heat the tortillas one at a time for about 30 seconds on each side, until they puff up slightly.

6. Assemble the tacos with the fish, a spoonful of tartar sauce and some crispy iceberg lettuce.

Chicken and Bacon Sandwich with Cranberry Mayo

This isn't really anything spectacular, it is quite frankly just a sandwich. I have always adored sandwiches, preferably with loads of mayo, cheese, tomato, lettuce and real meat (e.g. slices of actual roast chicken or beef rather than slimy deli meats).

Making sandwiches is a very personal thing, I would never ever let Mario make a sandwich for me. He would do something wrong for sure (not that he isn't capable, he is a civil engineer so he could probably assemble a sandwich, just not one to my liking). Strangely, Mario has no problems letting me make sandwiches for him, but I think this is more a factor of laziness than anything else. I do notice that on those occasions where I put all the sandwich fillings and bread and condiments out on the table for a "make your own sandwich" sort of meal, Mario's format differs significantly from mine.

The only other person who can make a sandwich just right is my Mom.

Chicken and Bacon Sandwich with Cranberry Mayo
makes 2 sandwiches

4 slices of walnut bread (or any nice multigrain bread)
2 slices swiss cheese
3 slices of cooked bacon, cut in half
1 tomato, sliced
lettuce
1 cooked chicken breast, sliced

Cranberry Mayo:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp cranberry sauce

1. Mix together the cranberry sauce and the mayonnaise. I prefer the smooth cranberry sauce, but the sauce with whole cranberries would work also.

2. Spread cranberry mayo on each of the four slices of bread. On two of the slices place chicken breast, 3 half strip on bacon, swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato. Close the sandwich and slice.

Croque Monsieur

Here is nice easy recipe and one of my all time favorites. I make a slightly "lighter" version for myself by using egg beaters, light miracle whip, low fat swiss cheese, and cooking spray for frying. But I've included the original recipe here. Enjoy.

Croque Monsieur

8 slices french bread
8 slices ham
4 slices swiss cheese
grainy dijon mustard
mayonnaise
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil for frying

1. Make sandwiches. Spread dijon on one side of bread, and mayo on the other. Include two slices of ham and 1 slice of swiss per sandwich.

2. Mix flour, eggs, milk, baking powder and salt in a shallow dish.

3. Dip sandwiches in batter, and let sit for 10 minutes to allow bread to absorb some batter.

4. Fry sandwiches in oil over medium heat 3-5 minutes per side until golden brown.