Chicken Shawarma Tortilla Bowls

Name: Chicken Shawarma Tortilla Bowls
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 lb boneless (skinless chicken thighs); 1 Tbsp olive oil; 1 Tbsp lemon juice; 1 clove garlic (minced); 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp smoked paprika; ¾ tsp Vindaloo seasoning (or ¼ tsp turmeric plus ½ tsp yellow curry powder); Dash ground cinnamon; 1 tsp salt; 4 tortillas; 1 head green leaf lettuce (rinsed and dried); 1 large cucumber (diced); 2 Roma tomatoes (diced); Hummus; Feta cheese

Change up Taco Tuesdays with these Chicken Shawarma Tortilla Bowls. Just like a taco salad, these bowls are super simple featuring a crispy tortilla filled with fresh lettuce, diced tomatoes and cucumber, cool and creamy hummus, salty feta, and spiced chicken thighs.

As a kid I hated any of my food touching each other. Every item had to have it’s own personal space on the plate, and I was always very methodical about putting the right bites together. While I still put thought into getting just the right bite each time (don’t even get me started on what happens if someone steals one of those carefully put together bites. . .), I’ve moved way past not letting foods touch. Which is good, because the ingredients for these bowls taste so much better all mixed together!

Since we don’t have cable, I’m not enticed by infomercials for food products. And I admit to being a total snob as if I see one of those “as seen on TV” stickers on a product, I assume it must be garbage and move right along. But I have to admit that the perfect tortilla makers are so worth the gimmick! Bry’s mom got him a set back in college when he and his roommates were cooking more at home and less at the dining hall. At first I laughed when he showed them to me, but after my first taco salad I was hooked.

As with most things in my kitchen, I had completely forgotten about those nifty tortilla molds until I was searching through my cupboards for a tart pan. It must have been fate as I was also trying to decide what to do with a stack of leftover tortillas in my fridge that didn’t include Mexican food.

Despite being full of flavor, these really are very easy to make and perfect for doing some meal prep ahead of time! The day before you plan on eating these, marinate the chicken and store in a sealable bag in the fridge overnight. Next, dice your tomatoes and cucumber and place them in a Tupperware container. Finally, wash and pat dry your lettuce. Wrap the lettuce leaves in paper towels and place them in a bag or Tupperware container in the fridge. The next day, all you’ll have left is to cook the chicken and assemble your bowls! See? Super simple.

If you don’t have a perfect tortilla maker no worries. You can make these into a wrap, serve as a salad with the tortilla on the side, ditch the tortilla all together and stuff the ingredients into a pita, or use an oven-safe bowl instead of the molds.

While I don’t think of Shawarma as being a cold-weather food, when I made these for dinner the other night, Bry commented that they taste like something you’d eat in the Fall. At first I was a bit confused as salads usually make me think of summer, but then I realized he was so right. The spices in the chicken really are so warm and comforting, that they made even a fresh salad taste like an autumn dinner. You can bet I’ll be playing around with ways to use these spices more in the coming months!

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