This is a great recipe that is sure to please. It is also a quick and easy dinner (except for pressing the tofu, but you could skip this step if necessary; the tofu will just break apart more).
Inspiration came from epicurious.com, which published a recipe for chicken shawarma that my husband loves. Since I don’t eat chicken, I wanted to see if I could substitute tofu with good results. The results are more than good, they are excellent! If you have a combination of carnivores and vegetarians at the table, you could make the baked tofu for the vegetarians and use a duplicate spice mixture with diced chicken for the meat eaters (bake on a separate cookie sheet for the same amount of time in the same oven). You can make the yogurt tahini sauce ahead of time, if you like. If you make everything at the same time, start with preheating the oven and let the tofu sit in the spice mixture for the longest possible amount of time, while you mix the other items together.
Yogurt Tahini Sauce:
1 cup yogurt
1 TBS tahini
1 clove garlic, pressed
Grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
2 TBS lemon juice
Handful of fresh dill, chopped (about 2 TBS)
Handful of fresh mint, chopped (about 2 TBS)
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Tofu:
1 lb. extra firm tofu, pressed
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. To press tofu, put block of tofu on top of several layers of paper towels on a plate. Lay several layers of paper towels folded on top of tofu, then place something heavy, such as a cutting board or some canned goods on top of a plate, on top of that. Leave for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Cut tofu into 1”-2” cubes.
Mix other ingredients in a bowl. Add tofu cubes and gently toss to coat all sides of each cube with spice mixture. Let sit for about 15 minutes (or longer is even better).
Bake tofu cubes on greased cookie sheet for 15 minutes.
Pita Bread:
8 small pita bread pockets
Wrap pita in foil and warm in oven with baking tofu for 5-10 minutes.
Salad:
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 cucumber or 1/2 English cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, then quartered lengthwise, then cut into 1/4”-1/2” slices
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup sliced or chopped red onion
2 cups baby salad greens or chopped lettuce
Toss all salad ingredients together, then sprinkle with salt and pepper, preferably freshly ground, and toss again.
To serve, cut pita in half, fill each half with tofu cubes, salad and yogurt tahini sauce.
Serves 4.
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