Chicken Shawarma

It was the first week of February 2023 when Chicken Shawarma was in the news for the wrong reasons. The dish was a part of multiple Grubhub orders that a young child made on his dad's cell. His father was shocked to find out his son ordered so much food that the bill ended up being over $1K and drained his bank account. What is this dish that's so good, a 6-year-old would want to order it? Let's find out by making it at home first.

Ingredients:

>>2 boneless-skinless chicken breasts 

I started with two frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts and took them out of the freezer and placed them into a microwave-safe dish. I set the microwave to the defrost setting for 15 minutes. Then I defrosted the chicken pieces. If you wanted to use chicken thighs, you could use 4-6 depending on their size. The goal is around 2 pounds of protein. Cut the chicken on the bias into thin strips.

Place the chicken strips and any juice from the defrosting into a gallon plastic bag.

>>The Marinade:

I was frustrated with the recipes I reviewed online because the measurements weren't exact. So my recipe solves that problem. This is my first pass at making this marinade. I omitted the coriander and cardamom because I simply didn't have them in my spice rack and doubled up on the paprika.

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp granulated garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (50 twists of the grinder)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 thinly sliced lemon with the seeds removed

Place all of the spices into a bowl and mix. Add the sliced lemons into the gallon bag with the sliced chicken. Then add the spice mix and 3 tbsp of olive oil into the bag with the chicken. Close the bag and massage the chicken so that the marinade evenly coats the meat. Burp the bag if needed before placing it into the refrigerator to marinate. Marinade the chicken from 1 to 24 hours in advance of your cook time.