Turkish Kebabs aka Gyros

I have always called these Kebabs. Not kebabs as in shish kebabs, but kebabs as in Turkish Kebabs. You are probably thinking what on earth is a Turkish Kebab? I will tell you.

When I was in college, I did a study abroad in New Zealand. It was awesome for so many reasons. However, their big time street food (other than fish and chips) are kebabs aka gyros. They call it a kebab because the meat in the kebab is cooked on a stick over fire and cut off really thin. AKA cooked as a shish kebab and served in a gyro. I know it sounds confusing, but it is what they called them. So it is what I have called them my entire adult life. But for the sake of not confusing everybody who reads this, I am calling it by the Greek name of Gyros.

Now that the back story is out of the way, let's talk about the food. These "gyros" are a little different in that there is no meat, and there are a few ingredients that aren't in normal gyros. That is because I modeled this after the version I would eat in New Zealand. With that said, this recipe is "easy" but time consuming. Mostly because I make my own falafel, hummus, and pita bread. If you don't want to put in that much time, I don't blame you. The falafel is easy, you just throw everything in a food processor and push 'Go' and you are pretty much done. It is a lot like making cookies actually, except cookies taste way better. Not to say my falafel isn't delicious, because it is. But when you compare falafel to cookies, well that just isn't fair.

I make my own pita bread because as my mom says, I am frugal enough to make a penny scream. Plus there is honestly something therapeutic about making bread. I think it is the act of kneading the dough. It is like adult play-dough that doesn't stink and it's okay if you eat it... And I usually don't think to buy pita bread until day of and this way I know exactly what is in my bread, and hot out of the oven? Nothing beats that.

Anyway, I will give you links to my pita bread recipe and include my falafel recipe in here. But if you want to buy your own, I don't blame you. It is recipes like this that remind me why I don't take pictures of "the process" of cooking the meal. It is because I have less counter space than the area of a standard US postage stamp so I have dishes and food and stuff EVERYWHERE and it is way too overwhelming to even think about trying to take photos that will look somewhat presentable. Take this photo of the meal spread out on the table, that is literally almost my entire table.

And one more thing before I give you the details of this recipe. A few things I love about it.

1. It is delicious

2. It is light but filling

3. It covers all the food groups

4. It has all of my son's favorite foods: hummus, "rice" aka couscous (any small grain), "yogurt", cucumbers, tomatoes, bread. (He likes the falafel too...)

Ingredients

Falafel

1 can (1.5 c cooked) garbanzo beans

1/4 yellow onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1/4 c fresh parsley (2 tsp dried)

1/8 c toasted wheat germ or bread crumbs

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp coriander

dash of cayenne pepper

1/4 + 1/8 tsp baking soda

1 T lemon juice

1/2 T olive oil

1. Puree everything except half of the beans until smooth.

2. Add rest of beans and pulse until roughly chopped.

3. Make into 2 inch patties on a baking sheet and freeze for at least 15 minutes.

4. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Kebabs/Gyros

Falafel

Hummus

1 c Couscous

Pita Bread

2 Roma Tomatoes, diced

Romaine Lettuce or Green Cabbage, shredded

Yogurt Sauce

1 c plain non-dairy yogurt (vanilla is ok-ish)

1/4 c fresh mint, chopped (1 tsp dried)

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

1 tsp sugar

1. Make pita bread. I love this recipe from The Mama's Girls because it is easy. The only things I change are:

- I make a half recipe.

- I preheat a pizza stone in the oven.

- Once the dough has risen, I dived it into 6-8 balls. Roll each ball out until thin and cook 3 minutes.

2. Cook falafel according to recipe above

3. In small sauce pan, bring 1 1/4 c water to boil. Add 1 c couscous, stir, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Fluff couscous once soft to prevent clumping.

4. Make your hummus, or get it out of the fridge

5. Dice tomatoes and shred lettuce or cabbage

6. Make yogurt sauce by combining yogurt, mint, sugar, and diced/peeled cucumber.

7. Assembly. Here is what I do:

-Cut open the pita pocket and spread hummus on both sides, fill with couscous, falafel, greens, tomatoes, and cover in yogurt sauce.

8. ENJOY