OOooPPppAAaaa!

I have had this yogurt in my fridge for over a week now and had no desire to eat it for what it is—plain yogurt. I decided to play with my Greek look-a-like roots and see if I could really be Greek if I wanted too. Not many people would consider marinating chicken in yogurt but amazingly enough it is great and really makes your chicken tender and juicy! One thing I did mess up is putting TOO much ginger. Luckily, ginger is good for the immune system and I definitely needed the boost so I enjoyed it. I cut down the ginger for this recipe because I really didn’t intend for the ginger taste to dominate the flavor so a tablespoon isn’t needed but rather just a teaspoon. This was a very refreshing salad and it was delightfully fulfilling. I enjoyed it and I think that this is a great salad to make ahead and take to work/school! For those of you that are wondering why I started mixing my meats and dairy’s, I have to say that I just gave up. When I have my kosher friends/family over I’ll refrain but for now I really enjoy my yogurt and meats and I’ll eat it at my own discretion, sorry my fellow Jews, I’ll cook Kosher another day. (Well, at least I didn’t use Prosciutto, even though some day’s I wish I could!!!)

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Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Marinating Time: Minimum 1 Hour
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

6 thin cut chicken cutlets
½ cup of fresh dill, finely chopped or marinade
½ cup of fresh dill, finely chopped for dressing
1/8 cup of fresh basil, finely chopped
1/8 cup of fresh mint, finely chopped
Teaspoon of finely chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic, minced for marinade
4 cloves of garlic, minced for dressing
½ teaspoon of black pepper for marinade
½ teaspoon of black pepper for dressing
1 teaspoon of salt for marinade
½ teaspoon of salt for dressing
1/3 cup of water for marinade
1/3 cup of water for dressing
1 cup of Greek plain yogurt (you can use any %) for marinade
1 cup of Greek plain yogurt for dressing
6 vine ripe tomatoes
3 cucumbers
2 small shallots
1 head of romaine lettuce, washed, air dried and cut into large pieces
½ cup of feta cheese either crumbled or a block cut into small cubes

Directions:

Take the chicken cutlets, wash them and pat them dry and place them in a large bowl. Throw in the dill, basil, mint, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, water and yogurt. With a tong, toss the chicken thoroughly in the mixture. Make sure both sides of the chicken are fully covered with yogurt. Once it is well mixed, cover and place in the refrigerator to marinade for at least one hour.
In a medium sized bowl, take the remaining cup of yogurt and water and mix will. Then you will put the remaining salt, pepper, minced garlic and dill in the yogurt and mix well. Allow it to sit in the refrigerator till it is time to serve the salad.

When you are ready to cook the chicken cutlets heat up a grill pan and spray non-stick cooking spray on it. Cook each side (with the yogurt on the chicken) for 5 minutes, or until you see fine grill marks and then flip over and repeat. Let the chicken cool for 10 minutes and then you want to cut each piece diagonally . You want to keep the pieces together for when you are placing them on the salad. So you want to cut each piece right before you are ready to place it over your salad.

This part is for individual servings. I will give the directions for 1 serving and then you would repeat it for the 5 others. Take one large plate, place the cut up lettuce in the middle. Take 1 vine tomato and cut into 8 wedges and place around and over the lettuce. Take ½ a cucumber and cut thinly and spread around. Take 1/3 of the shallot and cut very thinly and sprinkle around. Place the 1 piece of thinly cut chicken cutlet in the center over the salad. Take about a tablespoon or more if you like of the feta and sprinkle all over the chicken and salad. For the last step, bring out the dressing from the refrigerator and drizzle it over the salad. I love a lot of dressing but you might want to start with a little for your guests and then serve extra on the table.

If you do not need to make 6 salads, this is a great chicken and dressing to use throughout the week. Every time you are ready for a salad just cut up some veggies, slice up some chicken and drizzle some dressing and you’re ready to go. Enjoy!