Day of Experiments

Instead of going out for a fancy al fresco dinner for my birthday this week, we opted to invest the money in an instant pot/ air fryer. Honestly, it’s so exciting. Today was my first experiment with it. After it took me almost an hour to figure out how to work the lid of the instant pot, I was on my way. Honestly, I am THE most un-mechanical, least handy person I know. Maybe besides my brother…. ;).

I decided to make my favorite chicken shawarma from https://www.jocooks.com/, and lo and behold, she added an instant pot version on to her website now: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/instant-pot-chicken-shawarma/. If you have been following by blog you know that this is one of my favorite recipes, and I have made it often. We pair it with simply hummus, and tzatziki sauce when we have it for dinner. Today, I followed Jo’s instant pot technique, then air fried the chicken for 5 minutes to give it a little crust. Note: since the chicken breast was just over 1 pound, I looked up the cooking time on line. It gave me 7 minutes. I will do 8 minutes next time. The chicken breast came out slightly underdone, but since I will be reheating it in the microwave at work, it should be just fine, and not dry when I eat it.

Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma. I marinated it overnight for best results.

Now comes the really fun part – the air frying! My plan was to air fry eggplant and zucchini to go with my chicken shawarma for lunch. As I looked up recipes and techniques on the interwebs, I found one that did not require any breading. In fact the seasoning technique was the same as if I were going to roast the vegetables. No mess from the breading process, and no bread. Brilliant. https://www.melaniecooks.com/air-fryer-eggplant

Air Fried Eggplant and Zucchini seasoned with s&p, granulated garlic, onion powder, sumac (for the middle eastern flavor), and cumin, then tossed with just enough good olive oil to coat the veggies.

My middle eastern feast for the week is complete. Just one more thing – my fun new summer fruit of the week:

Fresh and sweet – Yellow Watermelon

Thank you for joining me today. Try something new this week: a new recipe, cooking technique, fruit, or vegetable. Experiment! And take good care of yourself! Stay safe and healthy. Wear your mask and wash your hands.

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