Mushroom Shawarma Bowl

This is a vegan friendly play on the Middle Eastern dish that will surely satisfy any appetite. 

Ingredients

Shawarma Mushrooms:

• 1.5 lbs oyster mushrooms 

• 5 tbsp olive oil

• 3/4 tsp each of cumin, coriander, garlic powder, chili powder, turmeric, smoked paprika

• 1/2 tsp each of red pepper flakes and kosher salt

• 1 lemon for juicing

• 3 tbsp balsamic glaze

Garlic Sauce:

• 1 cup garlic cloves (peeled)

• 1 teaspoon salt (Kosher preferably)

• 3 cups canola oil or any other oil (*you may not need all of this*)

• ¼ cup lemon juice ((about one lemon))

Other:

• Rice

• 1 Cucumber

• 1 onion

• 1 red pepper

• 1 tomato

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F, Start your rice and put a pan or skillet on medium heat. 

2. Tear apart the oyster mushrooms into large, flat chunks. You want them to look kind of like steaks. Drizzle them with olive oil.

3. Lay the oyster mushrooms flat in the pan, and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side until the mushrooms are golden brown and all the moisture has released and evaporated. You can use a grill press or spatula to press them down to help speed up the process.

4. Place the oyster mushrooms on paper towels to drain, and make your spice mix & glaze.

5. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and all the spices. In another bowl, mix together the lemon juice and balsamic glaze.

6. With the oyster mushrooms laying flat, brush each side with a liberal layer of the spice mix.

7. On a parchment lined baking sheet, layer the mushrooms on top of each other into a shawarma "shape" Add the 4 skewers to help the mushrooms stand upright. (you don't need the skewers if you don't care for it to look like shawarma) 

8. Drizzle the shawarma with the glaze, making sure to get in all the crevices. Wipe up any glaze that gets on the parchment paper to prevent scorching.

9. Bake for 10 minutes at 400°F, add the rest of the glaze and bake another 10 minutes.

10. Start making your garlic sauce 

11. Peel 1 cup of garlic cloves and chop the vegetables for topping the bowl off.

12. Add garlic and salt in food processor and puree until smooth

13. Slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of oil then add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

14. Continue alternating between 1/2 cup of the canola oil and a teaspoon of the lemon juice until you've added all of the oil and lemon juice. Alternating between the two is the key to proper emulsification which creates the light and fluffy garlic sauce. One tip is to let the machine run between oil additions to let the emulsion thicken. Once consistency is like mayonnaise it is done.

15. Once shawarma is done, cut it up.

16. When rice is done, it is time to place everything into the bowl. Start with a layer of rice on the bottom, add the shawarma, add a scoop of garlic sauce and the vegetables. I also add hot sauce to give it more of a kick.

17. Enjoy!