Chickpea Shawarma with Garlicky Tahini Lemon Dressing & Fresh Herbs

It's great to have a few meal ideas that are really satisfying, healthy & simple. These vegan shawarma  wraps are just that. Pita bread layered with hummus, baby kale or greens, cucumber, tomato, red onion, cilantro, mint, and oven baked spiced chickpeas. Then I drizzle all of it with my favourite tahini dressing with lots of garlic, lemon & olive oil. 

Note photograph vs reality. I added more of the veg in my shawarma wrap. Then I added way more sauce than pictured. Because it's delicious. A squeeze of lemon is nice too. It was all a bit messy but I honestly DON'T care. Grab some napkins, lick your fingers. Enjoy.

A note about the spiced chickpeas. If you taste them right out of the oven. It might seem like a lot of spice. (I don't mean heat, I mean flavour.) What is always good to keep in mind when making flavours that are going to be added to sandwich or wrap type things, is that it is going with a bunch of other ingredients. If you want your flavours to be detectable you have to make them a bit punchier so they don't get lost. I remember this simple concept from way back in my lunch rotation days at the culinary institute. We had to make a different sandwich every day of the week to sell in the cafeteria. I remember the chef saying this about a particular mayo flavour we were making, and the simple concept has always stuck, because it makes sense. Anyhow, onto the recipe.

A note about the Tahini Lemon Dressing:
The dressing will thicken up in the fridge. Just stir in a tiny amount of water to thin it out until drizzly again. 

Recipes:

Makes 6 pita wraps. (I usually can eat 2)
The spiced chickpeas is enough to make about 6 smaller pita wraps, 4 larger ones. The hummus and tahini sauce you will probably have leftovers of. I am putting approximate amount of veg you'd need but just depends how full you like them and size of the veggies. 

For this wrap you will need

1 x recipe Hummus (below)
1 x recipe Tahini Lemon Sauce (below)
1 x recipe Shawarma spiced Chickpeas (below)
6 x Small Pita Bread, warmed
Handful of Mixed Greens or Baby Kale per wrap 
2 Tomatoes, Chopped, 
1/2 - 1 Cucumber, diced
1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced
Fresh Cilantro (& mint if desired)
Alfa Alfa Sprouts (optional but a nice touch)

Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas (540 ml)
• 2 cloves garlic (or more)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup tahini
• s + p to taste

Method:
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1. Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth. 

Shawarma Spiced Chickpeas 

Ingredients:

•  1 can chickpeas (540 ml)
•  1 - 2 tbsp veg oil 
•  2 tsp coriander
•  1 tsp cumin
•  1 tsp smoked paprika
•  1/2 tsp turmeric
•  1/4 tsp cinnamon
•  1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/8th tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp flaked kosher salt, less if using a fine salt. (I always use flaked kosher salt, which I buy at the bulk barn in large amounts so I rarely run out.)

Method:

1. In a small bowl mix dried spices
2.  Drain chickpeas and dry well
3. Toss with veg oil and spices. 
4. Dump onto parchment lined baking tray, bake in oven tossing a couple times at 350F for about 30 minutes. Mine had a few crispier bits from chickpea skins that popped off but the chickpeas are not crunchy. 

Tahini Lemon Dressing

Ingredients:
​

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup water (add a bit at a time until desired consistency)
•  2 tbsp olive oil
•  6 tbsp lemon juice
•  1 tbsp white miso paste
•  1.5 tbsp maple syrup
•  3 cloves of garlic (or more, I put more cause I really love garlic

Method:
​

1. Whisk everything together in a bowl until it's a smooth consistency. 

To Assemble wraps

• Warm pita bread in microwave for 10 seconds or in the oven for a couple minutes
•  Spoon some hummus on each pita and swirl it all around
•  Add a small handful of baby kale or mixed greens, a small handful of diced cucumber, tomatoes, red onion slices, warmed spiced chickpeas, fresh mint and or cilantro and finally drizzle the tahini sauce all over everything. 
• Fold it in half with a couple napkins near by and dig in.