HOME & GARDEN CONSUMER GUIDE

East Mediterranean Sandwiches

Some fast-food fans already know shawarama, the East Mediterranean street food that begins with a tall, slowly-rotating column of roasting meat. Sliced off the spit in thin slabs, the roasted chicken, lamb, pork, or beef is tucked into a pita, liberally buried in chopped salad and doused with a tangy, cool sauce.

In American cities with a Lebanese, Israeli or Syrian community, chicken or lamb shawarama seems almost as easy to find as pizza. Where there are Greek-Americans, it is called souvlaki and made with pork. Turks make the same dish using beef and call it doner kebab. Despite all these possibilities, this warm Middle Eastern sandwich remains unknown in many places. Because of the kind of marinated, layered meat used, and the particular kind of rotisserie required, this is not a dish to make at home, so you have to find a take-out place or casual restaurant serving shawarama or its other-named versions if you want to enjoy it.

The meat, however, could easily be replaced by the right vegetables. The most important elements are the earthy spices, the pungent flavor from grilling and the contrast of hot filling against cool sauce. The usual tahini sauce could be replaced by plain yogurt, nicely seasoned and stirred.

I like to use sweet bell peppers, eggplant, tomato and onion for the filling, cut to grill without burning. The marinade is a dry rub of ground spices, mixed with just enough oil to make sure the spices cling to the vegetables.

Any kind of grill works, indoors or out, but be prepared if using a stove-top grill to have the house smell of smoke. Open the windows wide, and use an exhaust fan, if possible.

The final trick is quickly covering the just-cooked vegetables tightly and letting them sit so they will soften as their delicious juices blend with the spices coating them.

Grilled Vegetables Indian-Style

• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. prepared hummus
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• Canola oil spray
• 1 large red onion, cut in 1/4-inch slices
• 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut in
• 1/4-inch strips
• 1 Japanese eggplant, cut diagonally in 1/4-inch slices
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. hot red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 pocket-style whole-wheat pita breads

Make sauce by whisking together yogurt, hummus and oregano in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Coat a grill or a ridged grill-pan with cooking spray. Heat until very hot.

Put vegetables on skewers, one type of vegetable per skewer.

In a bowl whisk together garlic, cumin, cinnamon, pepper flakes and oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a flat pan big enough to hold the skewered vegetables. Place vegetables in the pan, turning to coat all sides, using a pastry brush, if desired, to coat surfaces.

Grill vegetables, turning occasionally, until tender, checking frequently. (Tomatoes will cook the fastest; the other vegetables will take varying amounts of time.) Remove each when done. Slide vegetables off skewers and into a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap for 10 minutes so vegetables release juices and soften. Meanwhile, heat pita bread until warm and soft.

Tuck one-fourth of the vegetables into the pocket of each pita. Top with a quarter of the sauce and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 288 calories, 8 g. total fat (1 g. saturated fat), 46 g. carbohydrate, 9 g. protein, 4 g. dietary fiber, 373 mg. sodium.

By Dana Jacobi for the American Institute for Cancer Research
“Something Different” is written for the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) by Dana Jacobi, author of The Joy of Soy, and recipe creator for AICR’s Stopping Cancer Before It Starts.