Tender grilled pork seasoned with homemade shawarma spice served with quinoa tabouleh, homemade pickled turnip and tahini dressing. Is this the exact meal you need? I think we both know the answer to that. So, fire up the grill, sharpen those knives and let's get cooking. This is my grilled pork shawarma bowl with homemade pickled turnip.
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Where Have I Been?
Before we get too deep into today's post, I want to talk a little about where I have been and why there have not been any new posts on Chefsnotes.com in over a month. I took some time off to spend with my family, rest, and reset.
Since then, the pain has ebbed and flowed but has mostly been bad enough that I could not cook or even type. The few times it felt okay, it was set off again by something simple like opening the fridge. I am sure you can imagine my frustration. I have been doing everything I am supposed to be doing and have been seeing some minor improvements. But enough is enough. I am dying to work, so that is what I am going to do. I am getting back to work, however, on a limited schedule. Rather than posting three days a week, I am only posting once, which should be manageable. I want to thank you all for sticking by me and for your understanding. This is an incredibly frustrating time, and I am happy to be back to work.
What's to Come?
During the break, I had two series going: the casserole series and the bowl series. This post is the last in the bowl series and was supposed to be posted about a month ago. I am also ending the casserole series early. If I am only posting once a week, I want to make sure that the one post really counts. So, all the upcoming posts will be one-offs, and when I jump back to posting more regularly, I will start some different series.
Pickled Turnip
Pickled turnip is a classic topping for shawarma and falafel, but it works just as well on pork chops or a grilled chicken sandwich. And, because it is pickled, it will last in the fridge for about a month. To make it, first julienne about one cup of turnip. You can do this by hand or use a julienne peeler.
Then do the same thing to one beet until you have about half a cup of julienne beet. The beet is what gives the pickled turnip its vibrant pink colour. Put the beets and turnip in a medium pot with two cups of water, half a cup of red wine vinegar, two tablespoons of sugar and one teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring the contents of the pot to a boil and cook for five minutes. Take it off the heat and cool it to room temperature before using or storing it in the fridge.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup julienne turnip
- ½ cup julienne beets
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- In a medium pot combine all the ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 5 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat, put a lid on it and cool it to room temperature, about 1 hour.
- Serve now or transfer to a glass or plastic container with a tight fitting lid and sotre in the fridge for up to a month.
Tahini Dressing
Tahini is a spread made of sesame seeds. Essentially, tahini is sesame butter (like peanut butter), and you can find it in the health food section of most grocery stores. It has a great flavour that makes the perfect sauce for our pork shawarma bowl.
To make it, combine half a cup of tahini with half a cup of hot water, one tablespoon of minced garlic, the juice of one lemon, a quarter teaspoon of cumin, three-quarters of a teaspoon of kosher salt and half a teaspoon of honey. Mix until smooth. You can use the tahini dressing right away or store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. If you are a fan of homemade dressings and sauces, you might also enjoy my guide to making vinaigrette.
Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini
- ½ cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1 lemon juiced
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon honey
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.
- Store the dressing in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
Quinoa Tabouleh
Tabouleh is a salad from the Levantine region of the world. It is traditionally made of parsley, tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur wheat, olive oil and lemon juice. This simpler version substitutes the bulgur wheat with quinoa to make the salad gluten-free and a little more nutritious.
How to Make Quinoa Tabouleh
To make the quinoa tabouleh, we first have to cook the quinoa. Start by measuring out one cup of quinoa. Rinse it and drain it well. Combine the one cup of rinsed quinoa with one and a quarter cups of water. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil over high heat, turn the heat down to low, cover the pot and let it simmer for fourteen minutes. Take the pot off the heat and let it sit, covered, for five minutes.
Put the cooked quinoa in a medium mixing bowl and combine it with one cup of chopped parsley, one tablespoon minced garlic, the zest and juice of one lemon, one tablespoon olive oil, and a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix well and serve. The parsley really is the star here, so do not skimp on it. You want the tabouleh to be mostly green with the quinoa playing a supporting role.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 ½ cups water divided
- 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 lemon juice and zest
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- Put the quinoa in a medium pot and cover with 1 ¼ cup of water. Stir and slosh the quinoa around, then drain it very well.
- Return the quinoa to the pot and add the remaining 1 ¼ cup of water. Put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil on high heat. Once the pot starts to boil, turn the heat to low, cover the pot and let it sit for 14 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat, leaving the lid on and let it sit for 5 minutes before fluffing it with a fork.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, parsley, lemon zest and juice, olive oil and salt. Mix well.
- Taste the tabouleh and season with additional salt as needed.
Pork Shawarma
Shawarma Spice Blend
Shawarma spice is something I have used before on this blog because I love it. You can buy it in most grocery stores now, but I find no comparison to homemade. The full recipe is below. If you enjoy making your own spice blends, I have a post on 5 essential spice blends you should master that is worth checking out.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Madras Curry Powder yellow curry
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Coriander
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- Mix all the spices together and use to season chicken breast.
Preparing the Pork Shawarma
For the pork shawarma, I used pork loin (1 kg). You could use pork shoulder or tenderloin if you would prefer. If you do use tenderloin, cut it after it is cooked, not before. Start by slicing the pork loin into thin pieces (about ⅛ inch). It helps if the meat is partially frozen while you are cutting it. Then, in a medium mixing bowl, combine the meat with the shawarma spice and a few tablespoons of olive oil. Mix well. At this point, you can grill the pork right away or put it in the fridge to marinate for up to a day.
How to Cook Pork Shawarma
Traditionally, shawarma is cooked on a vertical spit. I am guessing you do not have one of those, and neither do I, so our shawarma is going to be grilled. If you do not have a grill, you can cook it in a hot pan with a bit of oil or in a 400 degrees F oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
To grill the pork, preheat your grill to 400 degrees F, lay each piece of pork down in a single layer and grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until it is cooked. Finish the pork by squeezing some lemon juice over it and serve.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg pork loin
- 1 batch shawarma spice
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Cut the pork loin into ⅛ of an inch slices.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the shawarma spice and olive oil, then add the meat and stir to coat it.
- You can let the meat marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hours or grill it right away.
- Heat your grill to 400°f for 10 minutes. Lay the pieces of pork loin on the grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side with the lid down. Once the pork is cooked, squeeze the juice out of the lemon over the pork and serve.
Assemble the Pork Shawarma Bowl
First things first, grab the biggest bowl you have. Put about half a cup of the quinoa tabouleh in the bottom of the bowl and top with a little bit of sliced iceberg lettuce. Beside the lettuce, add a few tomato slices. Take a few pieces of the pork shawarma, thinly slice them and put them beside the lettuce. Top the meat and vegetables with a tablespoon or two of the tahini dressing and finish with the pickled turnip and a lemon wedge. It is absolutely delicious and actually pretty healthy.
A Bowl Worth Every Minute
There are obviously many components to this shawarma bowl, but it is well worth the effort. If you do want to cut down on prep, you can substitute the pickled turnip for some sliced dill pickle if you would prefer. It will not have the same flavour, but it will be delicious nonetheless.
What I love most about this bowl is how all of the flavours complement each other. The warm, spiced pork against the cool, lemony tabouleh. The creamy tahini drizzled over crisp lettuce. And that pickled turnip adds just the right amount of acidity and crunch to tie everything together. It is one of those meals that looks impressive but, when you break it down, is really just a collection of simple recipes on one plate. Give it a try, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how approachable it really is.
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