Seitan shawarma plate with garlic tahini
18 min · 53 g protein · 425 cals / serving
Thin strips of seitan fried until crisp at the edges in a warm shawarma spice mix of cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric and cinnamon, piled onto a chopped tomato, cucumber and parsley salad with pink pickled turnips and a lemony garlic tahini sauce. All the flavour of the street-corner plate, in under 20 minutes.
Ingredients
Shawarma spice
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Garlic tahini
- 1 heaped tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
- 2 tbsp water
- a pinch salt
Salad
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1/2 large cucumber, diced
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
To serve
- a few slices pickled turnips
Steps
- Make the sauce: whisk the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt (it will seize and thicken), then whisk in the water a spoonful at a time until smooth and pourable.
- Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the seitan in one layer, sprinkle over all the shawarma spices and fry, tossing now and then, for 5–6 minutes until browned and crisp at the edges. Squeeze over the lemon juice and toss.
- Meanwhile toss the tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley and lettuce together on two plates.
- Pile the hot seitan on the salad, add the pickled turnips and spoon over the garlic tahini.
Good to know
Making it ahead?
Keep the seitan, the chopped salad and the tahini sauce in separate boxes. The seitan keeps 2 days and reheats in a hot pan in a minute; dress the salad on the day.
Make it a wrap?
Roll it up in a warm whole-wheat pita or lavash with the salad and sauce. One pita per person turns the plate into the classic sandwich.
No seitan, or need it gluten-free?
Thin slices of extra-firm tofu, blotted well, take the same spices; fry them a few minutes longer, until crisp. It is softer than seitan and carries less protein, at about 68 instead of 72.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 90
- Protein
- (48%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (28%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (24%)
- 6 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 334 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 849 kcal goes into the pot and 972 g of ingredients comes out as about 940 g of food: 90 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.