Mediterranean Food Mosaic: Chicken Shawarma, Mediterranean White Bean Salad, Naan Bread and Hummus

Mediterranean food is awesome. It involves simple ingredients that can be combined in a variety of ways that all end up tasting fresh and filling. And the plus side to Mediterranean food is for the most part, done right, it can be fairly healthy while avoiding a potentially bland taste. It's the combination of spices that really bring out the best in the cuisine. That being said, Mediterranean food may not always be the easiest to make. I think Will and I have become slightly jaded to what can be considered "simple" or "easy" to make. Will deemed this dinner "fairly easy," but I'm calling bullshit. We (by we I mean I made naan and Will did the rest) spent the majority of this evening preparing it, between the time it took to make the naan bread (1 hour to rise, plus extra time to prep and cook), a fair amount of time chopping veggies, 4 hours to marinade the chicken plus time to grill it, slow cooking the chick peas in the crockpot all day in order to make hummus, and a few minutes to throw together the white bean salad. So "fairly easy" involved basically a whole days commitment to planning and preparing in order to end up with our Mediterranean feast.

However, do not be dissuaded! All of these things individually do not take a lot of time, it's just thinking ahead to prepare them that does. Plus, when it's in your belly, it's totally worth the commitment!! Another shoutout to Beth at Budget Bytes for tonight's meal. AND between Dragon Noodles, tonights Mediterranean mosaic, and our Earthy Fare we've got planned for later this week, we spent less than $70 on groceries, which is some kind of record for us I think. Not to brag, but we usually spend $80-90 a week on groceries, but because we had so much on hand for these recipes, we saved a ton! Thanks Beth!

Chicken Shawarma (adapted from Budget Bytes; serves 6)
Chicken and Marinade
2 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp minced garlic (approx. 2 cloves)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove

Yogurt Sauce
7 oz cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp salt

Sandwich Items
Homemade Naan (see below)
Lettuce
1 medium cucumber
2 medium tomatoes

In a small bowl, combine ingredients for marinade (yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, cinnamon, oregano, salt, nutmeg, and clove). Cube chicken and place in plastic bag. Pour in marinade in with chicken and mush it together before putting in fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours. After about 3 hours, get the naan bread ready for rising and cooking.

Prepare yogurt sauce for sandwiches. Just use the 7 oz. yogurt container and stir in garlic, dill and salt. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. Chop veggies and store in fridge.

Make naan bread. Once chicken is done marinating, grill it however you please. Build sandwiches on naan bread with yogurt sauce, veggies and chicken. Good luck folding it to eat it!

Recipe: Budget Bytes: Chicken Shawarma

Mediterranean White Bean Salad (adapted and halved from Budget Bytes; serves 4)
1 can white bean salad
Fresh parsley
Tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Several cranks of ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 oz. crumbled feta cheese

Drain and rinse beans. Rinse and chop parsley and tomatoes. Combine beans, parsley, tomato and garlic in a bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, salt and feta cheese. Eat!

Recipe: Budget Bytes: Mediterranean White Bean Salad

Naan Bread (adapted from Budget Bytes)

2 tsp dry active yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup veggie oil

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 egg

2 1/2-3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water. Stir to dissolve and then let sit until top is frothy (watch if you can-it happens really quickly and is pretty cool). Once frothy, add veggie oil, yogurt and egg and stir to combine completely. 

In a medium size bowl, stir 1 cup of water and salt until even. Pour in bowl of wet ingredients and stir mixture. Continue adding 1/2 cup of flour at a time until you can no longer stir the mixture with a spoon and it is smooth and soft, but not sticky. 

Turn dough out on a well-floured board. Knead for 3 minutes, adding flour as necessary to prevent dough from sticking. Your total flour amount may equal as much as 3 cups (although I never really keep track). Get dough in the shape of a ball and return to bowl, covering loosely to rise for at least one hour or until double in size.

Once dough has risen, return to floured board and flatten, cutting into 6 or 8 equal pieces (I recommend only doing 6 for this recipe so you have more room for the chicken shawarma). Shape each slice of dough into a round ball until it's time to roll it out to bake.

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, spraying with non-stick spray if necessary. Take one ball at a time and roll it out to approximately 1/4 inch thickness. Place rolled piece onto warmed skillet and watch for bubbles to rise and the bottom to get golden-brown. Flip the dough and cook the other side until lightly browned. Serve plain for this recipe (otherwise brush on butter and spices to eat by itself). 

Recipe: Budget Bytes: Naan Bread

Hummus (adapted from Budget Bytes)

1 can chick peas

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup tahini paste

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp paprika

1/4-1/2 cup reserved chickpea juice (or water)

Drain chickpeas, keeping chick pea juice on reserve in a small cup. Combine all ingredients except water in a food processor or blender. Starting with 1/8 cup chick pea juice, begin to puree ingredients, adding more as necessary. Stop blending and stir occasionally. Continue until hummus is smooth, churning like ice cream.

Recipe: Budget Bytes: Hummus

Final Product!