Tag Archives: pita

Turkey Koobideh (Persian Kebabs) Pita Sandwiches

One of the things I love best about blogging is the glimpse it gives me into how other people live their lives. I am not so naive as to believe that what they post is how they live everyday. I know it   is their aspirational life, and I’m ok with that. I’m just curious. I love to see the little details that they deem important and beautiful. I am a highly aesthetic person. The curve of the handle on a knife or the organic edge of a plate bring me great pleasure. To connect with other people who obsess over such details is a joy.

So when I stumbled upon the gorgeous blog post titled “My Shabbat Table” over at Sina Mizrahi’s beautiful blog, I was enthralled. She articulates the peace that is Shabbat with such clarity. And because she is such a genuine soul, she assures us that her Shabbat table does not look like this every week. Already I feel better about myself!

This recipe for Turkey Koobideh Pita Sandwiches is inspired by a recent post of Sina’s. Koobideh is a Persian kebab, made with ground chicken. Similar to Lebanese kofta. I made mine with ground turkey, because that’s what I happened to have on hand. These kebabs are little flavour bombs. Black pepper, turmeric, Aleppo pepper, sumac and salt combine to make an intensely flavoured koobideh.
The first time I made them, I found them to be a bit dry. Ground turkey and chicken can be quite lean. On round two I added a tablespoon of refined (unscented) coconut oil to the mixture. I decided to turn these into pita sandwiches and made a vegan tzatziki sauce to drizzle over everything. This sauce is so delicious. The recipe hails from melissas_healthykitchen on Instagram.
These sandwiches require lots of napkins. They are a drippy delicious mess!

Click here for Turkey Koobideh Pita Sandwiches.

Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma

chicken, onions and pitaI live in Ottawa, while my mom, brother and four sisters all live in Toronto. I don’t get to see them nearly as much as I would like to. Admittedly, we have become a little lazy about communicating with each other. These days, it’s mostly emails and texts and very few phone calls.

Last week I got an email from my brother. The subject line read, “Mom passed!!” My heart stopped. Logically I knew that my brother would never tell me that mom died in an email. But in the heat of the moment, I got nervous, and for good reason. My family and I have a bit of a sketchy history when it comes to communicating about death.

When I was in University, I came home one weekend for a visit. I asked my sister where Heidi, our dog, was. Apparently, my parents had put her down a month ago, and no one remembered to tell me. I was also the very last one of my siblings to know that my dad died, although to be fair, the signs were there.

You will be relieved to know that mom did not die. The body of the text read: “Mom passed her drivers test today. 2 more yrs of driving at least. Wish her Mazel Tov!” My mom is 82 years old. In  Ontario, after the age of 80, you must take a test every 2 years to ensure that you are still fit to drive. I fired off an email to my brother with the subject line, Don’t send an email with the heading “Mom passed”. It could be misinterpreted.” Then I promptly called my mom to say congrats and I love you. For the record, all my sisters had momentary heart failure and my brother properly apologized. 

The recipe for this chicken shawarma came to my attention via a text from my baby sister. She is always sending me links to different recipes she thinks I would like. She said she’d never read a recipe with so many positive reviews.

Recipes are like rumours. You must always consider the source. This recipe is from an impeccable source, Sam Sifton, food editor of The New York Times. If you don’t already subscribe to cooking.nytimes.comget on it right away! It is one of the best food websites. Their Mobile App is fantastic. Not only can you save and categorize their database of over 18,000 recipes, you can also save non-NYT recipes to your recipe box. I finally have a way to save all the online recipes I am inspired by, in one place. Genius! Subscribing to their daily newsletter is free, but they charge $5 US per month for the App.

Boneless skinless chicken thighs are bathed in a highly flavourful marinade.spice rubLet the thighs marinate for up to 12 hours in the fridge. If you’re short on time, even an hour will still produce spectacular results. ready to marinateAdd a quartered red onion to the sheet pan and bake the whole thing off for 30-40 minutes. ready for roastingIf you have time, mix up some great sides to go with the shawarma. I made an Israeli salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and cilantro and dressed it simply with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. I doctored up some store-bought hummus with a sprinkle of smoked paprika,  toasted pine nuts and a drizzle of good olive oil. I thinned some tahini with lemon juice and hot water for a drizzling sauce. I also added some charred corn slaw that I had leftover from last night’s dinner. Sour dills and hot sauce are more than welcome to join this party.all the fixins Stuff everything into a pita pocket or lay it flat and roll it up. Whichever way you choose to go, make sure you have plenty of napkins to catch all the drips. This is messy eating at its finest. stuffedflat to roll

Click here to print Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma.

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