The shish kebab house

One way to guarantee Liv will have a fun time dining out: find a place with live entertainment. We took her to the flamenco festival and she fell in love, and last weekend, we went to the Shish Kebab House where they have live bellydancers. Needless to say, she was enthralled. I would think we’ve exhausted all of our options, but thankfully Tucson has a ton of Mexican restaurants with live mariachis, which is always a hit. But… the Mexican places don’t have hummus. Liv likes salsa and chips, but girlfriend goes crazy for some hummus. 

Hummus  1 of 1

Whenever we go out for Greek food, I know the tiny hummus bandit will eat her own serving. She likes the dip the pita in, but after a while, she skips the middle man and just uses her hands. It’s pretty hilarious. So when I decided to replicate our Shish Kebab House style dinner at home, I knew that hummus was critical.

Apps  1 of 1 2

We were also excited to replicate some of the amazing kebabs while watching the live entertainment. 

To make the kebabs, I cleaned the chicken, chopped them into large cubes, and seasoned well with salt and pepper.

Kebabs  1 of 1 3

Next, I made a yogurt marinade with a container of plain goat’s milk Greek yogurt, 3 cloves of minced garlic, juice and zest of one lemon, 1 teaspoon dried oregano and about 1/4 C chopped fresh parsley.

I poured the marinade over the skewers, covered them, and placed in the fridge overnight.  

Kebabs  1 of 1 4

The just needed to be grilled with the Pilot’s awesome grill skills

Kebabs  1 of 1

and to go along with the skewers, I made a Greek salad with romaine, feta, olives, tomato, cucumber, homemade dressing

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and pita chips to dip in the hummus:

Pita chips  1 of 1

(Tossed cut pita in a baggie with olive oil, salt, cumin and smoked paprika; baked at 350 for 15 minutes)

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It was pretty amazing 🙂 

Of course, all we were really missing was the live entertainment, but we had tiny dancer spinning around and singing “Old MacDonald” when she finished her meal. Best ever.

I decided that my favorite night-before-long-run dinner is hummus, pita, Greek salad and falafel. My strongest long runs have been after eating that for dinner! Guess I’ll have to find an awesome place in Scottsdale for the night before my race 😉

Maybe the baklava helps, too.

Baklava

Hope you have a wonderful day <3

xoxo

Gina

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28 Comments

  1. Alisha @ Alisha's Appetite on October 2, 2013 at 11:45 am

    Greek food is probably my favorite right after mexican (only because I love spicy!!) Those chicken kebabs look soooo mouth watering right about now

  2. Lauren @ Focused To Be Fit on October 2, 2013 at 11:52 am

    drooling.

  3. courtstar @ starsystemz on October 2, 2013 at 11:53 am

    Yum I am a hummus fanatic too like Liv I got probably eat it with my hands! Love the skewer idea I have been making my own hummus lately since the packaged kind here is imported and 10x the price! I would love a hummus recipe from you mine I make is ok not bad just ok. Haha lots of love C

  4. Captain Competition on October 2, 2013 at 11:57 am

    I made basil hummus about a month ago. Didn’t quite get it right. I am going for some red pepper hummus this week. Never thought about marinating kabobs with Greek yogurt always just used olive oil. This could be a nice change.

  5. Jay on October 2, 2013 at 12:10 pm

    Looks delicious! What is your dressing for the salad? I think I’ll make that tonight!

  6. Ashley @ Life and Fitness on October 2, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    I love Greek food! I wish more places by me have gluten free Greek options. I love hummus with anything!

  7. Ashley V on October 2, 2013 at 12:27 pm

    Hummus is just too good. It took me a while to like it because every time I tried it was from a store bought package. I just thought it was terrible until I made my own. Heaven help me-hummus is the best. And feta cheese…I can’t even handle how much I like feta cheese. I have got to start spicing up my meal plan (which, due to my single girl status, is pretty much non-existent). I tend to eat the same thing about 5 nights a week. Just typing that sentence made me feel pathetic. I like what I like, and I like what’s really easy as well!

  8. Anna @ Fitness à la Anna on October 2, 2013 at 12:43 pm

    Hummus is also a staple in my daily meals, so I can totally relate to her love of hummus! I try to avoid eating it with my hands as much as possible, however 😉

  9. Jen on October 2, 2013 at 12:45 pm

    I love falafel it’s one of my favorites, thanks to my dad! He would make it when I was a kid and I would eat them dipped in ketchup. Now I eat them like an adult lol!

  10. Sara @ LovingOnTheRun on October 2, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    Yum I love Greek food! I have a favorite Greek restaurant I used to go to all the time when we lived in North Carolina. Unfortunately, there aren’t many up here but always try to make a stop when we are home visiting!

  11. Meg @ A Dash of Meg on October 2, 2013 at 12:52 pm

    the tiny hummus bandit <<<<<< oh I love it 😀 hahaha that dinner looks amazing, sweetie! i need to do kebabs! and greek salad! it's been way too long!

  12. FitBritt@MyOwnBalance on October 2, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    Liv has a very advanced palate for someone so small! This entire meal looks awesome and it is definitely something I would love to make!

  13. Caitlin on October 2, 2013 at 1:06 pm

    Everything looks delicious! What is your recipe for the dressing?

  14. Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs on October 2, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    This whole meal looks delicious! The yogurt marinade sounds particularly yummy 🙂

  15. Haley @Cupcakes and Sunshine on October 2, 2013 at 1:30 pm

    Oooh wow they sound yum. Today, I had greek pizza at a restaurant and it was fabulous. Why have I not thought of making my own greek pizza before? These kebabs look wonderful.

  16. Taylor @ Single-tracked Mind on October 2, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    I LOVE hummus and all Greek/Mediterranean food! So tasty and healthy!

  17. joelle (on a pink typewriter) on October 2, 2013 at 2:20 pm

    Def need to try making my own pita chips! Great idea!

  18. Sarah on October 2, 2013 at 3:08 pm

    Love hummus. The wee one- not so much. But he’s crazy into yogurt and peanut butter. Also loves dipping, though he generally just licks off the dip. Toddlers are weird!

  19. Erin @ The Almond Eater on October 2, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    Girlfriend goes crazy for some hummus. HA! You’re too funny. Those chicken skewers look delicious!

  20. Laurie Wilkinson on October 2, 2013 at 4:58 pm

    Definitely making your hummus fast!

    Just stumbled onto your blog recently – LOVE IT. Made your amazeballs last night – (I die!). Hubby text me today…”these cookie dough bites you made are SO good”. Imagine how stoked he was when I told him what was in it. Obviously, I required that he call them amazeballs – we’ll see how that goes!

    So look forward to reading more!

    • Fitnessista on October 2, 2013 at 5:31 pm

      thank you so much, laurie! happy the husband likes the amazeballs too 🙂

    • Fitnessista on October 2, 2013 at 5:30 pm

      awesome- thank you!

  21. Liz on October 2, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    This is my fave place for greek in Scottsdale! Yum! http://greekgyros.net/

  22. Sarah A on October 3, 2013 at 12:59 am

    One of my most favorite restaurants in Tucson! Try the hummus with lamb. To. Die. For.

  23. Nicole on October 3, 2013 at 7:46 am

    I LOVE and miss Pita Jungle! They have several locations. http://www.pitajungle.com/

  24. Alissa @ Roll of the Spice on October 3, 2013 at 11:17 am

    Greek food is just the best! There is nothing better than a well seasoned kebab. I cannot believe all the healthy food Liv loves to eat! That’s amazing for you! Hopefully that means you can avoid the mac and cheese rut that so many parents go through with picky toddlers!

  25. Cassie on October 3, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    THAT ALL LOOKS AMAZING!!

    I had pepita hummus at a local Mexican restaurant and I’m addicted!

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