Grilled Chicken Shawirma with Red Rice- شاورمة دجاج ورز احمر بالبزالية

I attempted to grill the chicken outdoors, but you could arrange the chicken pieces on a sheet pan and put it under the broiler for 10 minutes. Turn the slices on the other side and leave it for 5 more minutes under the broiler.

You will need a jar of shawirma spices that you can find at Middle Eastern grocery stores.

Makes 3 servings

1 ½ pounds chicken breast,(boneless and skinless)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon shawirma spices

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

½ cup onion, chopped

1 glove garlic, chopped

Slice the chicken breast on a cutting board. In a deep bowl, pour the oil and vinegar and add the salt, spices , onions and garlic and stir. Add the chicken pieces and make sure they are very well coated with the marinade. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Heat the outdoor grill to medium. Place the chicken pieces on the grill and cover the grill. After 5 minutes, turn the chicken slices over and grill for 3 more minutes until done.

You can serve it with bread and salad or with rice cooked with tomato sauce.

Red Rice with Tomato and Peas

This is a vegetarian rice but you could add chicken stock or lamb stock to the rice if you prefer.

3 cups boiling water

1 ½ cup basmati long grain rice

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Bahar or Arabian spice

¼ cup water

½ cup frozen peas

In a deep pot, bring water to a boil. Add salt and rice and stir the rice. Leave rice starts to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour rice in a strainer and leave to drain.

In a pot, heat the oil and add onions and season with salt and spices, and stir. Add the tomato paste and stir. Add ½ cup of water and bring to a boil. Add the peas and rice and stir. Reduce heat to low and cover to steam for 20 minutes.

Serve it with Arabic salad and pickles

Enjoy

Rice with Tomato Sauce-Red Rice

When we cook this type of rice, we top it with fried eggplant slices and pieces of chicken. We serve salad and pickles on the side. You could cook this rice with lamb broth and top it with stewing lamb and fried eggplants. In this recipe, I grilled the eggplants for a lighter version. We serve this dish as a whole meal.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups basmati rice

1 ½ cup chicken broth or water

½ cup tomato sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon (bahar-spice mixture of cinnamon, allspice, black pepper)

Heat oil in a pot and sauté the rice until rice grains are coated with oil. Add salt and spices and stir. Add the chicken stock and tomato sauce and bring to a boil half covered. When the liquid is almost absorbed, stir the rice and reduce heat to low and leave it to steam for 20 minutes covered.

Grilled eggplants

Slice the eggplants and sprinkle with salt. Put them in the colander to drain for 30 minutes. Pat them dry with paper towel. Put them in a bowl and drizzle vegetable oil over them. Place them on a sheet pan under the broiler for 7 minutes until toasted. Turn the slices to the other side, and broil them. Set them aside and sprinkle Bahar spice over the slices.

You can prepare the eggplants ahead and keep refrigerated. We traditionally cook the chicken and remove the skin and bones. You could use leftover chicken. Sauté the chicken in butter or oil, and set aside. Plate the rice and top it with the eggplant slices, and chicken pieces.