Greek Souvlaki On A Pretty Day

It’s hard to believe how fast January went by and how much the temps dropped between December and January.  I enjoyed having fires in the fireplace and used my full rick of wood.  But on this 60 degree first day of Feb, it was time to fire up the grill.

Weight Loss:

My diet is paying off as I lost 20 pounds during the first four weeks in January and if I can stay on track, I should be ready for a mid-March hip replacement.

We had really enjoyed pork souvlaki about 18 months ago so for this meal, I chose Chicken Souvlaki using the recipe from “The Mediterranean Dish” and with few carbs and only 200 calories per four oz. serving, it is perfect for my diet.  I followed the recipe as written but I had three pounds of chicken.  With three posts out of the last five, I have obviously been on a Greek chicken kick but Cuban coming next.

 Greek Souvlaki – slightly adapted from The Mediterranean Dish

Ingredients:

10 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp each Kosher salt and black pepper

¼ cup Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup dry white wine

Juice of 1 lemon

2 bay leaves

2 ½ lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, fat removed, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces (we had 3lb.)

Instructions:

1. Prepare the marinade. In the bowl of a small food processor, add garlic, oregano, rosemary, paprika, salt, pepper, olive oil, white wine, and lemon juice (do NOT add the dried bay leaves yet). Pulse until well combined.

2. Place chicken in a large bowl (or plastic bag) and add bay leaves. Top with marinade. Toss to combine, making sure chicken is well-coated with marinade. 

3. Prepare Tzatziki sauce and other fixings, and if you're adding Greek salad or other sides, prepare those as well.

4. When ready, thread marinated chicken pieces on to the oiled skewers.

5. Brush the grill grates with a little oil and heat over medium-high heat.

6. Place chicken skewers on grill until well browned and internal temperature registers 155° on instant read thermometer. Be sure to turn skewers evenly to cook on all sides. (Adjust temperature of grill if necessary).

7. While grilling, brush lightly with the marinade (then discard any leftover marinade).

8. Transfer chicken to serving platter and let rest for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, briefly grill pitas (if using) and keep warm.

Assemble grilled chicken souvlaki pitas. First, spread Tzatziki sauce on pita, add chicken pieces (take them off skewers first, of course) then add veggies and olives.  

We ate ours without bread.

Tzatziki Sauce – from Cookie and Kate 

Ingredients:

2 cups grated cucumber (from about 1 medium 10-ounce cucumber, no need to peel or seed the cucumber first, grate on the large holes of your box grater or use food processor grater blade.

1 ½ cups plain Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (or 2 tsp. dried)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 medium clove garlic, pressed or minced

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions:

1. Working with one big handful at a time, lightly squeeze the grated cucumber between your palms over the sink to remove excess moisture. Transfer the squeezed cucumber to a serving bowl, and repeat with the remaining cucumber.

2. Add the yogurt, olive oil, herbs, lemon juice, garlic, and salt to the bowl, and stir to blend. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Taste and add additional chopped fresh herbs, lemon juice, and/or salt, if necessary (I thought this batch was just right as-is).

3. Serve tzatziki immediately or chill for later. Leftover tzatziki keeps well, chilled, for about 4 days.

We just served the souvlaki on a plate with Tzatziki Sauce and sided it with salad and a choice of creamy Feta or Greek vinaigrette - forgot my plated shot.

The Verdict:

The meat and the sauce were both excellent and I’ll make this dish again with one major change – I’ll be sure to put the same size chicken pieces on a skewer so as not to overcook the small ones trying to get the larger one done.  I knew this could be an issue, but did it wrong anyway.  

The Tzatziki sauce made way too much and half recipe would be more than enough.  Don’t worry though as I’ll find a use for it such as Souvlaki omelet.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

01/31/22 event date