Middle Eastern Archives - Strength and Sunshine

Grilled Chicken Shawarma with Yogurt Tahini Sauce & Marinated Veggies (Gluten-Free, Paleo)

June 26, 2017 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 2 Comments

A gluten-free and paleo grilled chicken shawarma recipe served with a dairy-free yogurt tahini sauce and marinated veggies. This Arabic meal packs in so much flavor and is guaranteed to be a showstopper dinner!

I am so excited to share this recipe for grilled chicken shawarma with you! Not only is the name super fun(ny), but it is out of this world delicious and flavor-packed! Remember that birthday of mine a few weeks ago? I had big plans of making this meal on my birthday, but the weather did not cooperate and I knew I wouldn’t be able to shoot (photos for this very blog post). I ended up having salmon and yucca instead. The following day, however, the sun was shining and it was the perfect day to make this amazing gluten-free feast! If you’ve never had chicken shawarma before, you are about to be introduced to something so insanely delicious, you won’t know what hit your tastebuds 😉Read More

Middle Eastern Twice-Baked Baby Eggplants

February 15, 2017 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 88 Comments

Flavorful Middle Eastern Twice-Baked Baby Eggplants make a delicious gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free appetizer or side dish. An easy plant-based recipe that will wow the tastebuds with new exciting flavors!

Ah, those recipes where I get to be fancy with simple ingredients and flavors; I love them most! When we take the time to learn about other cuisines, we realize we had all the beautiful foods, spices, and herbs that we needed, just lacked the knowledge of how to make them work together. That’s where we tap into the beauty and wonder of cooking.Read More

Grilled Ras El Hanout Chicken

July 20, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 74 Comments

With an essential Moroccan spice blend, Grilled Ras El Hanout Chicken will become a new favorite healthy dinner recipe to throw on the grill. Gluten-free, paleo, and Whole 30 approved, entice the senses of smell and taste with this exotic dish.

The great grilled chicken recipes never have to stop! I’m still seeing people complain about sad, dry, grilled chicken, maybe flavored with some salt and pepper. Do they know that life does not have to be so plain and lackluster? If you’re going to eat meat, let’s not “butcher” it further by the way we cook it. That may have to be my new mission in life. End the sad, dry, tasteless chicken and bring flavor back to the family dinner table!

Trust me, my friends, it does not need to be so sad! Chicken is that blank-slate protein I always talk about. It becomes the spices, herbs, marinate, whatever you use. That’s the first step. Ditch the salt and pepper and bring on the exotic “palate-intriguing” flavors! It’s like vanilla ice cream. Great, but we can make it so much better!

I was actually pretty shocked the other day when my brother requested I only season his piece of salmon with some pepper…that was it! Yes, my mind was blown. I get it though, sometimes we just want to appreciate the pure taste of a simple food. I feel that was about my veggies. But when it comes to chicken and fish…I can’t help myself but get a little wild with the flavors and textures.

His piece of salmon looked so sad with just pepper that I had to throw on some garlic powder; I just couldn’t help myself! Salmon had a buttery rich flavor on its own, but chicken? No. You HAVE TO flavor it up! I felt like a new flavor profile for this chicken and decided to use the full range of my spice cabinet. The Moroccan spice blend, Ras El Hanout, sounded like the perfect mixture of warming and delicious spices for some grilled chicken!

It’s a compilation of many spices and you may think it’s a bit crazy, but rubbing the chicken down with the dry rub is going to be one of the best decisions you make this week to that boring chicken I know you have sitting in the fridge! I really hope you make this Ras El Hanout from scratch, but I know not everyone is a crazy spice hoarder like me, so I do have a suggestion for a bottled mix if you really have to.

This chicken does get a tad better too. We’re topping it with some beautiful Harissa of course! There is NO WAY this chicken will leave you in tears now (maybe tears of joy, but not sadness!) I’m thinking the perfect weeknight summer dinner that should be on your menu this week is this chicken and some of my Harissa Potato Salad!

Grilled Ras El Hanout Chicken

Grilled Ras El Hanout Chicken

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Author: Rebecca Pytell

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts
Ras El Hanout Spice Mix:
1 Tsp Ginger
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Turmeric
½ Tsp Cinnamon
½ Tsp Garlic Powder
½ Tsp Onion Powder
½ Tsp Allspice
½ Tsp Coriander
½ Tsp Nutmeg
½ Tsp Smoked Paprika
¼ Tsp Black Pepper
¼ Tsp Cloves
¼ Tsp Mace (optional)
Dash of Cayenne Pepper (optional)
Zest of 1 Lemon
Harissa Sauce (topping)

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine all the spices and lemon zest. Mix together.
Rub the Ras El Hanout on the chicken breasts, all sides, and place them on a greased piece of foil (food allergy safety method).
On a heated grill, grill the chicken over medium-high heat, covered, for about 10 minutes, flip, and cook another 10 minutes of until thoroughly cooked.
Served with a drizzle of Harissa!

Notes

*My suggested brand of a pre-made Ras El Hanout.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1

Enjoy this glorious grilled Ras El Hanout chicken! Let’s make a pact to end all boring chicken dinners while bringing the flavor and exotic zest to out family tables! We must leave no chicken behind! Let me see that flavor and spice! Enjoy!

So tell me:

+ What’s your favorite chicken recipe?

+ Have you ever had a Ras El Hanout flavored dish?

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Levantine Socca Pizza

May 25, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 133 Comments

Combining Levantine flavors to create a delicious gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, vegan pizza recipe baked in a cast iron skillet! Levantine Socca Pizza is the healthy exotic twist you need to spice up pizza night!

It’s here! The final pizza to celebrate unofficial pizza month! I’ve given you a bunch of new gluten-free and grain-free crust ideas and this one is yet another to add to the list! This one took a little bit of before-hand prep, which I showed you on Monday. The Baba Ghanoush Hummus is only one of the spreads you’ll need to top this Levantine Socca Pizza!

You may have noticed right away that I baked this luscious pie in one of my favorite kitchen appliances, my cast iron! It creates the perfect browned and flavor-infused bottom to this socca crust! And it comes off clean and easy (which is what we all want!) We don’t want to lose any part of our chickpea flour crust because it gets stuck in some terrible tragic pan!

Before I get too ahead of myself and assume y’all know what socca is, let me give you the rundown. Socca (also called Farinata) is a chickpea flour “flatbread” or large pancake. Originally from France (I know!), but seen mostly in Middle Eastern cuisines now-a-days. You just need chickpea flour and liquid to make socca, but of course, that’s just the “basic”. We will be making a much more stellar, heartier, and “pizza-crust-worthy” socca today!

What makes this socca more than just a thin flatbread is…..sweet potato! Sweet potato puree to the rescue for making a perfect pizza worthy crust that will stand up to all the luscious sauces and topping that grace this pie! The crust comes out soft and bready and the perfect thickness.

To make this pizza really shine, through a few different layers, here’s what you get. Layer 1: socca crust, layer 2: harissa, layer 3: baba ghanoush hummus, “layer” 4: eggplant strips and fresh cilantro! Is your mouth watering? Yes! You get to bite through all those lovely layers. It really is a pie of bliss! You can eat this whole thing yourself if you have a super appetite, or share it with a very trusted and loved friend (because you know…it’s PIZZA)!

I didn’t know what cuisine this pizza fell under, so that’s why I’m using the regional term, Levantine. This encompasses the Middle Eastern area of Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. It covers all my bases for this pizza creation.

I hope you’re as excited as I am about this pizza! I think it may be my proudest “pie” creation to this point. It may have to do with the magic of the cast iron, the chickpea flour, the harissa, or maybe that baba ghanoush hummus. Well, I guess it’s just a combination of it all! So here you go; let’s get pizza making!

Levantine Socca Pizza

Levantine Socca Pizza

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Cook time

18 mins

Total time

18 mins

Author: Rebecca Pytell

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Serves: 1 Pizza

Ingredients

Socca Crust:
½ Cup Chickpea Flour
½ Cup Sweet Potato Puree (or butternut squash)
¼ Cup Water
¼ Tsp Onion Powder
¼ Tsp Garlic Powder
Toppings:
2 TB Harissa (I use mild)
¼ Cup Baba Ghanoush Hummus
1 Small Eggplant (cut into thin strips)
2 TB Chopped Cilantro

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
In a mixing bowl, combine the chickpea flour, potato or squash puree, water, and spices. Mix to combine a smooth, thick batter.
In a well greased cast iron skillet, spread the socca batter in a 10 inch diameter circle (about ¼ inch thick).
Then spoon on the harissa and spread it around, next spread on the hummus, and finally layer on a few thin eggplant strips and sprinkle on the chopped cilantro.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes (mine was done in 18).
Remove and allow to cool before removing and slicing!

Yes guys, I used baby food yet again 😉 That stuff is just too handy and has the perfect consistency! Now, I hope y’all join me in grabbing your cast iron and making some delicious, mouth-watering, “omg-flavor!” Levantine Socca Pizza today!

So tell me:

+ Have you ever made socca? Funny story, I few years ago I tried to make a socca crust and it was such a huge fail! The entire thing just stuck to the baking dish and it was a mess. I made this pizza in its place. Lucky me, I finally conquered the socca pizza!

+ Do you have a pizza stone? I think I might want to get one. We have one, but it’s so “gluttened” that I obviously can’t use it 😛

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Baba Ghanoush Hummus

May 23, 2016 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 154 Comments

Combine 2 of the best dips to make Baba Ghanoush Hummus! Full of deep, smoky, and roasted flavors, this condiment will seem like a meal! Gluten-free, vegan, and nut-free, with eggplant and chickpeas, you’ll get your healthy veggies and protein in one dip!

Why not combine the two? It makes sense, doesn’t it? Both come from the same region in the world and both and spectacularly delicious! I feel like they are the same thing, regardless. Before I was as “food literate” as I am now, I through baba ghanoush did in fact include chickpeas. Turns out that’s false, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and combine the two anyway!Read More