We make a mindful Mediterranean meal, grilling Chicken Shawarma right on the stovetop plus quick, fresh falafel. Grab the recipes at http://www.DinnerDeeAs.com and if you make any of them, send us a picture! E-mail us at DinnerDeeAs@fox.com or @DinnerDeeAs on Instagram. Watch Dinner DeeAs every weekday at 1p ET on FOX13.
I’m Jeff Philbin, and this is Dinner DeeAs. Every day, we invite great chefs to share their ideas for what you could make for dinner today. A mindful Mediterranean meal as we bring you healthy, homemade dish is full of flavor. Chicken shwarma, fresh falafel. And in this rally, salad and much more. Here to guide us through this easy to make menu is chef Alyson Zildjian. She runs Zildjian Catering in Sarasota, offering healthy catering and even custom cuisine for athletes. Welcome to the kitchen, my friend. Thank you. I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to have you here because today we’re making a multitude of delicious dinner ideas. Chicken Shwarma falafel. And then this really chops up with a nice sticky sauce. Come on now. This sounds absolutely appetizing, but we’re starting with the marinade first for our chicken. That’s correct. So what I’m doing is I’m just getting some cilantro chopped up here. But first what we’re going to do is we’re going to mix up the, marinade for the chicken. I love it. So we have, some cumin. We have some tumeric, we have some allspice. Good. So the last bit. Some Cuban coriander, a lot of, typical, Middle Eastern spices you would find in a lot of this kind of cuisine. I absolutely love it. We have some salt, white pepper and a little bit of, some pepper blend. Okay, then I just have some Greek yogurt. It’s a plain Greek yogurt. Okay. Okay, we’ll just put that in there. Love it. And if you want, we can mix that up. I’ll definitely help you here out of your ingredients that you could find right there at the grocery store. Absolutely. All in. These are all the dry spices. Like I said, we have a Greek yogurt. Then I’m going to add a little bit of lemon juice. And a little bit of olive oil. So we’re getting some liquid going here. So we have a nice little marinade. And then I’m going to add just a little bit of garlic because of course you know everything’s better with. Garlic solutely garlic. Onions. It’s the basis of all great cooking. Absolutely. Okay. So we got that mixed up. So now I’m going to add a little bit. So now we’re good with that. It’s all mix incorporated. And you don’t need to use the whisk anymore. We’re just going to throw in some onions. Okay. Well you can whisk that around. Just toss. It. I’ll give you a little bit there. Okay. All right. And then I have boneless chicken thighs. Okay. And these I just love boneless chicken thighs because they’re just, juicy. They are the. Flavor. Yeah. Much more flavor. And then we’re gonna put this into the fridge for now. So that way beautiful marinade. Because to make this marinade in the whole meal Allison is sharing with us today. Grab the recipes@dynasty.com. It’s where you can also watch the show again if you missed anything. The easiest way to find us? Open the camera app on your phone and zoom in on the QR code on the screen down there in the corner, and a link to us will appear on your phone. Now, another staple of Mediterranean food is people like you can’t have one without the other. So we’ve got the chicken shwarma taking its marinade here. But the falafel. How are we celebrating this? So falafel we’re going to make a paste here. So we have fresh cilantro and fresh parsley again very readily available in your grocery store. We have some garlic jalapeno and onion. So basically we’re going to put this all in. And we’re doing this first because we’re not going to pick it. It’s okay to use all the stems. And certain times when you’re making food like you saw with the chicken shawarma, I took the stems off of that cilantro, which is just a little bit of the bitterness. But we’re all good with this. We’re just throw it in here. And that’s the easy part. Okay, we got some cloves. Garlic cloves. This is how a pino, And then, I just took half an onion and we chopped that up, gave it a little bit of help. So when we put it in the Cuisinart and we mix it up, we’re going to make a little paste with that. while we blitz all this together we’re taking a break. But when we come back how chef Allison cooks up her chicken shawarma right on the stovetop ahead on dinner is. Welcome back to dinner, Diaz. We’re making a mediterranean meal today with Chef Village religion. She’s joining us to share a healthy recipe for dinner with chicken shwarma falafel and an Israeli chop salad with a tahini sauce. Before the break, we started our chicken shwarma combining spices including cumin, turmeric, allspice, coriander, salt, white pepper, crushed pepper, then adding yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, onions and adding diced chicken thighs, which all went into the fridge for that beautiful marinade. Then we started on our homemade falafel, adding cilantro, parsley, jalapeno and onion to the food processor, making a nice little bit of a paste that brought all together during the break. But it wasn’t done just yet. Nope. We’re going to finish it. So these are a combination of cooked and soaked beans. So I’m just going to add this to the paste that we made earlier. And then I have cumin. There’s a lot of cumin in this recipe, and we have a little bit of salt. And one of the things that’s really great about this recipe is I’m using an all purpose gluten free flour. Nice. So everybody is happy. also delicious. Cover all the bases. Compromise on the, flavor. And this is a mix of different pepper. We have a six pepper blend, some white pepper, some black pepper and then baking soda. And so soda is going to allow it to, expand and plump up a little bit. Love it. So, you’ll see that when we go to fry it later. Okay. And then easy now we’re just going to mix it all together. So. That’s it. All right. And then we’re going to skip. You want to get it right into this bowl. And we’re going to put it into the refrigerator. And then we’re going to let this sit for about 20 minutes. again this is a something that you can make up ahead of time if you have the time to make it the night before. Even better. We got a. Smells so. So good. All right. So we’re going to put this in the fridge okay. And that’s we’re doing the chicken shawarma. To grab the recipes for the falafel the chicken shwarma or the salad we’re about to make, head to dinner. diaz.com. Find us my skin in that QR code. We put down there in the corner of the screen. All right, so we’ve got our chicken shwarma here. So is our pan nice and hot. Oh, yeah. And all my swears after that whole night really is. Me. It’s such a beautiful marinade. Oh, wow. And once it actually hit the the smell. Oh, yeah. So cilantro, the turmeric the turmeric is what really gives us that color. It’s a great health property too. Oh yeah So we’re just going to let this cook here for a little bit on that first side while we start working on this beautiful salad. Yep. So this is an Israeli chop salad depending on where you live in the world, you might add a. Little bit of red pepper or green pepper to your salad. but these are, pickling cukes. They’re actually, local and really delicious right now. And we’re just going to chop them up. It’s just, cubed up this cucumber. just add that to our bowl. Equal parts a. Cucumber and tomato. I’m just going to add a few more tomatoes in here. and then we’re going to chop up some of the parsley, which is also. So the one thing about this is it’s a lot of parsley. that’s what makes. It more of the Israeli chop salad. so this same. So this is salad. No lettuce, all things parsley. That’s the greens. Yeah. So we do a lot of parsley and lemon. Because as you’ll see it’s a lot of parsley. Let’s see how this looks. And then, I’m going to put a little bit of just sea salt, a little white pepper. this is just lemon juice. I can add extra pepper. You know, when you’re at a restaurant and then like, they bring out the pepper, like, hey, would you like salt? No. I’m good. I’ve had enough. I’m good. So I hear on that I totally get it. And if your food is flavored correctly, you don’t need to. Yes yes, yes. So here we go. This is beautiful. Israeli chop salad. easy. You know, I’ll garnish it with. So this is great for the summer because it’s just, you know, quick and it’s just delicious and fresh. Oh. All players coming together. Yeah. It’s kind of like ready for the whole party. Yeah. And how are we doing over here? We’re doing really good because this chicken is about to finish up. So we’re taking a quick break. When we come back we’ll show you how Chef Alison cooked up for fresh falafel. And it’s a healing sauce with a side of spice ahead of dinner. Yes. Look at that. That is beautiful. Welcome back to dinner, Diaz. We’re cooking today with chef Allison. Jen. She specializes in healthy, local seasonal food with her company, Zillion Jen Catering in Sarasota. She’s been sharing recipes for a healthy and delicious dinner. We’re making chicken shwarma, falafel and an Israeli chop salad, all made from scratch. Before the break, we finish our falafels, adding a mix of soaked and cooked garbanzo beans to the herb mixture in our food processor, along with some salt, flour, baking soda, cumin, white pepper and a six pepper seasoning that we let that sit in the fridge while we start cooking the chicken. We marinate earlier, letting that heat in a hot grill pan on the stove, giving us time to make our Israeli chop salad from cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, lemon juice, and olive oil. And it looks as though you’re taking off the heat, so it must be ready. Yeah, this looks great, doesn’t it? Nice color. Absolutely like caramelized here. And, yeah, it’s already off of the oven. So we can sit for just a minute before we slice it and get to eat it with all of our delicious food, we’re making fantastic. And we have these beautiful what will be falafel. Yeah. All right, so what we have here is a falafel tool. Okay. if you do not have one of these at home, you can use an ice cream scoop. Okay. this is a little mini scoop, but you use different sizes. You don’t want them too big. But this is like for an appetizer size perfect. And so basically. And if someone didn’t have either, could they just use their hands or just kind of for their own ball. Absolutely. Okay. You know there’s you know one size there’s traditional size, but whatever suits you. This is all being creative and you’re doing your own thing. But so we’ve got our make sure you saw us do that earlier. And we are going to just take a little bit here. And this is my spatula. So I just we fill the tool, I pull this down. Okay. Hold it with my thumb. Okay. Then we’re just kind of rounding it. Okay? Okay. And then I’m just going to release. It. Into the oil. Oh, can I try this I think I got it I got yeah okay. So then you pull this down. Pull that down. Okay. And then we just scoop it right in. Yep. You want to have like just a little bit of a mound. Not too much. Okay. So it’s pouring more of a disk rather than a ball then. Exactly. Okay. Death. Got it. Pack it in there. Nice. What? When it releases, you’re going to get a nice. Okay. What’s that about? Right. That looks great, Flopping in there. nice. All right, so let’s make those, you know, 4 or 5 here because again, we get to eat them later. Oh, yeah. And they don’t take long. the heat. this is actually a rice bran oil. These are non-GMO, very clean oil you can use. You want something that’s got a good high smoking point. So, I recommend, you know, either most people have vegetable oil, something that’s more clean. It’s actually very fun. This is like a very fun pot. Like, I can think of, like, a million other reasons why I would want this. If you could put the falafel. But I think I’ve got some ideas with, using this falafel tool. Oh, yeah? What do you think you can do? You know, I think, like, I if I could do, like, a really cool, like, mashed potato and, like, have something kind of like, like. A little fried. Exactly. Like, you know, or like, do, like arancini or something like that. Yeah. And like have. Something. Oh, just to keep that like a hockey puck on a form. Yeah. Versus like the ball. Yeah. Nice little orders. Yeah. Exactly. What a great job here. And then pretty quick to cook with. Yeah. One of them we lost. But that’s okay. To make any or all of these dishes for your dinner grab the recipes from dinner.com. Just scan the QR code on the screen to get there. We’ll get one more in there. Yeah. So you want to make sure your oil’s around 350. because most people are going to make this in a pot. They’re not going to have a fryer later. That gives you, the that where you can read the temperature. So you want to make sure the oil’s hot enough so that you, it’s not sitting and absorbing all that oil for too long. So let’s check some of these. Oh, yeah. One of these is done. So we got a nice golden brown because you want them to cook inside. So you want a little crunchy on the outside, but you still want a little moist in the middle but cooked all the way. Absolutely. So how are we doing here. Oh that’s that wrong. Almost there. That’s perfect. Yeah. Look at those colors. All right. Fabulous. And then this is we’re our tahini sauce that’s really what goes on falafel And this is a recipe that is@dinner.com. And so walk us through some of these ingredients okay. So again we’re using tahini. so we have to hini lemon juice a little bit of agave okay. So give it a little sweet salt white pepper and water. So when you put the tahini in a, in a food processor or your Vitamix, sometimes it’ll look like it’ll get real thick. Sure, sure. So, you don’t want to put too much lemon juice in it because it’s going to be, like too sour. So we use water. Okay? Okay. So just so you know, when you’re making that you’re going to put in your tahini sauce, your lemon juice, a little bit of agave salt white pepper and then water will like loosen it up okay. And then we have a little secret. You got a. Secret ingredient that’s not even moving right now because it’s so for what is the secret ingredient. Here? Carolina Reaper hot sauce. Okay. Time out on both fronts here okay. Tahini, generally speaking, doesn’t get the hot sauce. But then like, you’re taking not only just a hot sauce, but giving like one of the world’s hottest peppers So you’re just casually just putting this into. Well, I wanted to give it just like a little bit of a zing, a little bit of a kick, just a. Little bit of a zing for the King. We’re not going to put this whole much in it, but I would hope. No, no, no, you’re just going to give it like a little hit. And that gives you the freedom as a chef to play with what you want to play. If you at home don’t want to put in one of the hottest peppers on earth with like millions worth of skull bills, what is it like? Almost like a million. Yeah. What we said. Yeah. Ten. Is it 10 million or something? It’s hot. Okay, folks, it’s hot. So if you don’t want to have it, you don’t need it. But if you want to try something with a punch, I’m ready for the punch. Yeah. And it’s so. And then the parsley just rounds it out, gives a little bit of color. And then. Yes. Exactly. Because if you make any of these for your dinner let us know Facebook us at facebook.com/dinner Diaz and send us a photo or leave us a comment. That’s what Kim did. She’s watching on Lake Wales and wrote us after seeing Alexis Shanks recipes for chicken skewers, her arugula feta flatbread and that watermelon feta and not to be forgotten with that beautiful peach white wine spritzer, Kim said. Made these for dinner last night. Amazing. This meal is really easy. It could be made for dinner. Ingredients are easily available. Please have more meals like this that busy families can enjoy. Chef Allison, I think what we’ve made today is really all perfect menu for anybody that might be a busy family. Would you agree? I agree, yes. You know, because you’re marinating chicken, you’re grilling it, which is always great. I mean, we grill all year round here in Florida and then the Israeli chop salad. you could actually put that over greens if you want. when I serve that to my clients, I do, put that as a salad. Yeah. And I put mixed greens. And then I pour the, Israeli top salad over it because it already has all the dressing in it. And you can eat that as a salad with the chicken. I mean, you know, maybe some rice. What more can you ask for? Right? Just healthy. Delicious. Fresh. Done. Right. Done right. Done right. When we come back, Chef Allison, I get to taste test everything we’ve been making on dinner this. Welcome back to Dinner Ideas. We’ve been making a fun, fresh, flavorful idea for dinner today with Chef Allison Zillion. Our menu includes chicken shwarma, falafel and an Israeli chop saut, all made from scratch. Plus the tahini sauce with. Just a little. Kick. Because we did check the Carolina Reaper has a heat level of 1.6 million on the global scale, so use it sparingly. Used sparingly? Yeah. Uses. Marilee does not want to go straight into. Yeah. I mean, you know, there’s some crazy people out there that like real hot. So you know, it’s up to you. I can’t do it anyway. This is it. Hot water. Taste the food. Right. Like we want a little bit. You want to respect all of it too? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So what I did here was I put some of these really chopped salad in the bottom of our pita with some of the falafel and a little tahini on top. I love it. And I added a little bit of, of the, pepper tiny. So, you know, again, you can do whatever you want. You can add some olives, marinated mushrooms, whatever you want. With it too. Yeah. Go straight. Ready? Let’s go for. what’s being celebrated with yours. Right here, right now is all these incredible flavors. The crunch factor, the topping with the falafel, the bite that is absolutely incredible. Flavorful. Garlicky. Fresh because of all that parsley behind it. That was real fantastic. Yeah. The Heaney it’s really not as closely as you think it would be. No it doesn’t, it really isn’t. But like I said the when you add pepper the hot pepper into something that’s so mild it just kind of brings out the flavor. It totally does. Yeah. And then you have that beautiful salad that’s just fresh. It’s light. It’s bright. Simple. Simples. Anything that little subtlety of acidity there but not like going to get you on that punch of being like well hey. Yeah. There’s like a lemon there. This is just that little accent that just literally gives it just that little, little bit for these vegetables. We got a 5050 blend there that you had of tomatoes, that cucumber. Yeah. And like I said you could put this over mixed greens. And kind of just mix that all up and eat it as a salad. Just like that. Yeah. And then we have our, the shawarma. Shwarma now. Which again you could put in a pita. Or just have rice. And for those that have never had shwarma what should we be tasting. Well hopefully you taste a lot of the tumeric and the, the blend of the coriander or the cumin all spice, the yogurt, the yogurt you know, makes, gives it that look, you know, the little pasty coating. but nothing should be too overpowering. It’s just like a blend of, you know, in the cilantro. I love salon, I do too, I know there’s people that have some kind of genetic issue where they either love it or they hate it. but to me, you can never have enough cilantro. so in the shwarma. Yeah, just that blend of those Middle Eastern spices, like I said, the allspice, the tumeric, the cardamon, the cumin, the cilantro, the yogurt. It’s a combination of flavors. You got some warmth, you have some fresh. You have it all kind of coming together. Yeah, I just kind of, like, takes you. Feels like you’re in the Mediterranean. Do you eat the same arbor? and then with the fresh, of the tomato and the cucumber, I just think it’s like the best. Absolutely is done. Right. Thanks again to Chef Allison Xeljanz. A link to her website is at seccom. That’s also where you can grab the recipes for everything we’ve been making today. I’m Jeff Philbin. Thanks for watching. And see you next time with more dinner dance.