Souvlaki And Greek Salad

When I saw Jenn’s recipe for Souvlaki on her “Once Upon A Chef” blog, I knew I wanted to give it a try.  I thought it would be an easy company meal so I invited Eliza and her family down for Sunday supper.  Since the recipe is for 4-6 servings, I increased it by 50% to get the recipe below.

Souvlaki - Adapted from Once Upon A Chef

Ingredients:

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 large cloves garlic, minced

3 teaspoons dried oregano

1½ teaspoon honey

2¼ teaspoons salt

¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1½ tablespoon lemon zest, from two large lemon

FOR THE TZATZIKI

2¼ cups plain 2% or whole milk Greek yogurt

1½ medium English or hothouse cucumber, seeded, coarsely grated and squeezed as dry as possible (about 1 cup)

3 small cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill or mint

FOR SERVING

Lemon wedges

Warm pita bread

Instructions:

FOR THE CHICKEN

One at a time, using a Jaccard, pound chicken to an even ½-inch thickness. (Skip this step if using chicken tenderloins.) Cut the meat into 2-inch chunks.

Mix all the ingredients except for the chicken together in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and stir until evenly coated. Cover with plastic wrap and let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. (I added everything to a plastic bag and marinated over night.)

Thread the marinated chicken onto soaked wooden skewers, folding if the pieces are long and thin. Be sure not to cram the skewers. (Note: Six ounces of meat per skewer)

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat and, using tongs, dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and carefully wipe the grill grate several times to prevent sticking. Place the skewers on the grill and cook, covered, turning to brown evenly, until the chicken is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes total. 

Transfer the chicken to a platter and cover to keep warm. Meanwhile, briefly grill the pita bread until warmed through. Serve with tzatziki sauce, warm pita, and lemon wedges.

FOR THE TZATZIKI

2¼ cups plain 2% or whole milk Greek yogurt

1½ medium English or hothouse cucumber, seeded, coarsely grated and squeezed as dry as possible (about 1 cup)

3 small cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover and chill for up to 2 days or until ready to serve.

Note: If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes prior to using to prevent them from burning on the grill.

Greek Salad

To go with the souvlaki, I opted for a Greek Salad and while Jenn had a recipe for one on her site, I opted to use the recipe for Classic Greek Salad from Roz on her “La Belle Vita” blog and once again I increased the ingredients by 50%.  Rather than reproduce her recipe, you can click on the link for the original recipe.  While most Greek salads don’t include lettuce, I liked that Roz’s version did but we halved it and the honey and we used a sweeter white onion.

This is a shot of Roz’s beautiful presentation.

This is ours – Bev did the prep and Cindy made the dressing.

My plate - we used pita pockets.

The Verdict:

The word fantastic was used a couple of times to describe the meal and I agree for both the salad and the chicken.  The amount of chicken was about right as we had just one skewer left over but Roz's original recipe would have been plenty of salad as would the original Tzatziki recipe.

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

7/2/23 meal date