Beautiful,right? Now you are probably stumbling over how to pronounce it so I'm just going to go ahead and get that out of the way. Gyro = YEE-row. You've probably heard it has "hee-row" or "jai-row" but the apparently the correct way to say it is yee-row.
Phew, now that we've taken care of that bit of awkwardness, let's move on to where this came from. I might have uncontrollable cravings for Moroccan chicken. It might be the zippy lemon, or the bold spicing, but my tummy begs me for it. I decided to throw together a gyro version and came up with this delish little sandwich. Instead of the traditional gyro tzatziki sauce (don't worry about pronunciation, just stumble through all the consonants like everyone does) I went with a tahini sauce, which comes from sesame seed. So you've got the zingy, flavorful chicken combined with a sesame sauce with fresh veggies...you see how tasty this sandwich is? Yum! My church is having a Night in Bethlehem dinner and nativity and wanted to serve something authentic. Ya, Jewish food from 2,000+ years ago? Not gonna be a crowd pleaser. But I offered up this idea and they loved it. We're at least closer to the region so we'll call it good and stuff our faces.
Ingredients
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
2 lemons, sliced thin
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
*Serve with shredded cabbage, bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, red onion, and tahini sauce (recipe below) on pita or arabic flat breads.
Instructions
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Lay half the lemon slices out to create a bed for the chicken. Place the chicken breasts on top of the lemon slices.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, paprika, cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Spread the mixture over the tops of the chicken breasts.
3. Lay the remaining lemon slices over the chicken.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
5. Slice and serve hot or cold.
For the Moroccan Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 lemon, juiced
2 Tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1 pinch pepper
Instructions
1. Mix it all together in a little bowl and serve.
