Halal Cart Inspired Chicken and Rice

I love me some halal cart food, and while I’ve been meaning to try the Serious Eats recipe for a while, I’ve just never gotten around to it, because really isn’t it just easier to pay $5? I decided to take a slightly different approach to the tried and true cart version and use chicken legs and a marinade. The rice and sauce are taken directly from Serious Eats, but I added veggies to be sorta healthy. The chicken tastes pretty different from the cart version (expected), the rice tastes pretty dead on (expected), but the sauce tastes nothing like the carts (the ones in Philly at least). I was worried I would have a tough time finding harissa (I’m well situated for finding all things Asian/Mexican, but I can’t think of any middle eastern centric places nearby), but luckily Whole Foods has it right next to the mustard.

Chicken:

¾ cup greek yogurt

½ cup harissa

1 tablespoon oregano

2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and pepper

Chicken (I used 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks and a big breast)

Add all the ingredients of the marinade in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag. Mix, taste, and adjust seasonings as necessary. Add the chicken and marinate for 4 to 6 hours (I acutally like to chuck it in frozen the night before).

When it’s time to cook, place chicken in a roasting pan (leave on that delicious marinade) and roast at 400ºF for 40 minutes, or until you hit an internal temp of 165 ºF.

Rice:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 medium carrots, diced

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon cumin

1.5 cups long grain rice

2.5 cups chicken broth

¾ cup frozen peas

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a medium pot. Add the chopped carrots and sautee for 5 minutes, until they start to soften. Add in the turmeric and cumin and cook for 30 seconds longer. Add the rice, and stir to coat, cooking for 3 to 4 minutes until toasted. Add the broth, season with salt and pepper, and cover, reducing to a simmer, for 15 minutes. Add in the peas with 3 minutes or so to go to warm through.

Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add everything to a bowl, and stir.

Garnish:

Lettuce

Tomato Slices

Falafels with Quinoa Tabbouleh and Tahini Dressing

I haven’t always had successes with unfamiliar foreign cuisine, but this meal turned out pretty good. The falafels were moister on the inside than the falafels I’ve had from the halal truck I go to for lunch. I would assume they use a mix? I’m not enough of an expert on the subject, so maybe I’m wrong.

Falafel (adapted from: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Falafel-231755)

1 cup dried chickpeas

½ large white onion, chopped (1 cup)

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1 thai chili, diced

3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon baking powder

4-6 tablespoons flour (I ended up using 6)

Directions:

Soak chickpeas in cold water overnight. Drain, and add to a food processor along with the onion, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, and coriander. Pulse until blended but not pureed. Sprinkle the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of flour on top and pulse. You should be able to grab a piece of dough, form it into a ball, and not have it stick to your hand. Add another tablespoon or two of flour if need be. 

Form the dough into 12 golf-ball sized balls. Refrigerate for several hours, or overnight. Or, if you don’t have several hours, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, freeze for one hour, than place in a bowl in the fridge for another hour.

Heat 3 inches of canola oil to 375°F. Add half the falafels and fry until golden brown, turning halfway. It should only take a few minutes. Remove and place on a baking tray lined with paper towels to sop up the excess oil.

Tahini Dressing:

¼ cup tahini paste

¼ cup greek yogurt

2 tablespoons water

1 clove garlic

Pinch salt

Pinch paprika

Directions:

Place everything in a small food processor and give it a whirl. Add a little more water if the consistency isn’t creamy enough.

Quinoa Tabbouleh (from: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Quinoa-Tabbouleh-395939)

1 cup quinoa

2 cups chicken stock (sub with vegetable stock if you prefer)

½ large cucumber

1 thai chili, minced

2 small tomatoes (or 1 large)

2/3 cup chopped parsley

2 scallions, sliced thin

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Rinse the quinoa well. Even if the package says its no-rinse quinoa, rinse it anyway. Bring stock up to a boil, add salt and dump in your quinoa. Quinoa doesn’t have much flavor on its own, so it’s always a good idea to cook it in some sort of flavorful liquid, or at least toss in a bouillon cube. Anyway, let the quinoa simmer for 15 minutes, until spiral thingies have formed around the grains. Drain and fluff. Let cool. This step can be done well in advance.

With the quinoa cooled, add the Thai chili, tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, and scallions. Season with some salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, squeeze out the lemon juice and add the garlic. Allow it to sit for about 10 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking to emulsify. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the quinoa.