Shawarma Chicken Bowls with Basil-Lemon Vinaigrette
Can we talk about the song ‘Rude’ by Magic! for a sec?
I can’t stop blasting it. It’s been love/hate since I've first heard it on the radio - less and less love as time goes by, but still.
I enjoy the pop-reggae sound and I kinda dig the lyrics - a man asking a father for permission to marry his daughter, yet winds up getting soundly rejected. Pretty original.
There are a couple of things bugging me about it though.
First off, do we (i.e., guys) still ask the girl’s father for permission to marry her?
I know some do, of course. But is it still common?
Take for instance my friend Rob. Before he asked his now fiancee to marry him, he first discussed it with his parents, then he went over to his fiancee's house so that he could get the permission from her parents, and then asked her. Exhausting.
I honestly thought what he did was the exception rather than the rule.
The way I see it is: the guy pops the question to the girl first, and then tell the parents, hoping for their blessing.
Am I completely off-base?
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Secondly, I think our so called protagonist in this song is not so innocent as he claims. It's a ruse.
He’s trying to play the victim card. His insistence that he is going to marry the guys daughter anyway is a somewhat subtle threat to the father.
The biggest red flag is when he tells the father “I'm human, too!"
Is that it? Is this the best reason you’ve got for marrying his daughter?
Buddy, lemme tell ya, saying that you’re human will not make you stand out. Ha.
Lastly, I have a big problem with the singer’s pronunciation of the word “rude”.
I’m not saying that he has an unfamiliar accent/inflection, he just clearly mispronounces the word.
Listen carefully next time you hear it.
He distinctly says “Why you gotta be so ROUX?”
Is the guy implying that the father is like the sauce created by cooking wheat flour and fat? If so, what does he means? The only thing we can infer is that the guy’s a foodie. Good for him.
Or maybe he’s saying “Why you gotta be so RUE?” If so, he’s obviously trying to show off by throwing random archaic words at the father. Who cares if that question has no semantic meaning, right?
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Okay, enough with my rantings about this song — which is, by the way, the song of the summer.
Let’s talk about food, shall we?
I made some Shawarma chicken this week. You guys seemed to enjoy it so much, I just had to make it again, and again, and again.
Flavorful and spicy, piled high in a bowl with other...stuff. Green stuff, red stuff, healthy stuff, dressed with a to-die-for basil-lemon vinaigrette.
This is so my kind of summer lunch.
It’s light, refreshing, super filling and P to the A to the L-E-O.
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Ingredients
Serves 4
Chicken Shawarma
1 lb / 453 gr free-range organic chicken breast, cut into 3-inch strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¾ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
Salad
6 cups / 3.5 oz / 100 gr spring greens
1 cup / 5.3 oz / 150 gr cherry tomatoes, halved
2 handfuls torn fresh basil leaves
1 avocado, sliced
Basil-Lemon Vinaigrette
2 large handfuls fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic, smashed
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
In a bowl whisk olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, curry powder, cumin and coriander until combined.
In a shallow sealable container or in a large Ziploc bag, combine chicken strips and marinade.
Cover or seal and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes (marinate overnight for fullest flavor.)
When you're ready to make the meal, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add a tiny bit of olive oil, add the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes turning regularly, until juices run clear.
In the meantime make the vinaigrette. In a food processor (or small blender), process the basil, garlic, salt, and lemon juice until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the oil. Blend until combined. Set aside.
To make the salads, add the greens in a large bowl and toss them with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Add the chicken on top along with the tomatoes, basil, and avocado.
Drizzle the bowl with the basil-lemon vinaigrette.
Serve!
Nutrition facts
One serving yields 392 calories, 28 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs and 27 grams of protein.
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