Chicken Shawarma Meatballs with Roasted Green Beans and Sweet Potatoes

We're repurposing the Shawarma-inspired meatballs you've seen before and adding them to a foldover sandwich (or bowl) with a change-up in veggies. I like this as a bowl; my boy herd will sandwich anything, so they wrapped this up in the pita.

Definitely you can make your own hummus, or use your favorite grocery store option. Make this as easy or as complicated as you like (not that making hummus is complicated).

Couple notes: If you are making your own hummus, use the garlic you've soaked for the tahini sauce part of the hummus instead of 2 fresh garlic cloves.

It may feel like the ingredient list is long, but it is mostly herbs, and probably you have most of them in your cupboard. A good thing about this recipe is that all components can be made ahead of time, even as early as the night before. You can prep the veggies ahead of time, too; just be sure to put the sweet potatoes in a bowl of water to keep them from browning.

Chicken Shawarma Meatballs with Roasted Green Beans and Sweet Potatoes

Yield: 4 - 5 servings

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 lemon juiced

1 T olive oil

2 garlic cloves minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper

pinch of ground cinnamon

pinch ground coriander

1.5 lbs ground chicken or turkey

1 large egg

1/2 cup panko crumbs

Roasted veggies

2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed

4 large sweet potatoes, peeled, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch strips (sort of the same size as the green beans)

2 T olive oil

salt and pepper

For serving

Pitas

Hummus

Instructions

Season meatballs

In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, Aleppo pepper, cinnamon and coriander until smooth. Add the chicken, eggs, panko crumbs until just combined. Do not over mix at this stage. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

Divide green beans and sweet potatoes with half onto each baking sheet. Drizzle each pan with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly on each baking sheet. Slide in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven, and toss to ensure even roasting.

Scoop 1 1/2 inch balls of chicken mixture into rounds with a spoon and spread over the pans, evenly distributing.

Return pans to oven and continue roasting until meatballs are cooked through, starting to brown and sweet potatoes are golden and slightly crispy, 25 to 30 minutes.

Once everything is baked, serve the meatballs, veggies with pita and hummus. Enjoy!