I love to cook,
but in the summer I want to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible and
create as little heat in my house as possible.
Hopefully you
have tomatoes and cucumbers and maybe even peppers & onions growing in the
garden, but if you don't, they abound at farmer road-side stands and are
inexpensive in the grocery stores.
Staying
seasonal and grilling outdoors meets all my summer-time demands with a tasty
Greek street food known as Souvlaki.
Souvlaki is
basically meat on a skewer. Typically
this is made with lamb or chicken, but I think Shrimp would be great too.
The method that
makes Souvlaki special is using typically Greek ingredients and marinating the
meat before grilling. Pita bread, Tzatziki
Sauce and a Greek salad round out the flavor and nutrition of this perfectly
light and summery meal.
Chicken
Souvlaki (serves 6)
1 1/2 lb chicken breast
1/3 cup olive
oil
1/3 cup fresh
squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup red
wine vinegar
2 tsp. dried
oregano
1 tsp. dried
thyme
2 tsp. coarse
kosher salt
3-4 cloves
garlic, minced
Directions:
Slice chicken
diagonally so you have strips (about 1/4" or so thick). I like to thread my chicken on the skewers
(back and forth) instead of cubes. I
find the chicken cooks more evening, the chicken won't rotate on the skewer and
you get more crispy bits.
Place in a bowl
with all the marinade ingredients and place in refrigerator for a minimum of 3
hours, but overnight is better.
If using wooden
skewers, soak in water for 30 minutes before adding meat. Otherwise skewer meat onto metal skewer in a
back and forth method until the skewer is almost full. You want the meat snug but not overly tight.
Cook on a
medium/high grill until each side is seared, about 8 minutes total. Look for no pink in center of chicken. You can continue to baste chicken with
leftover marinade as long as it's cooking.
Do not baste chicken after it's cooked.
Sprinkle with
finishing salt (coarse kosher salt). Add
a lemon wedge on the plate for an extra
lemon-punch. Serve with warmed pita,
shredded lettuce, Greek Salad and Tzatziki sauce.
Tzatziki
Sauce
1 whole English
cucumber (no seeds), grated
2 cups Greek
yogurt (or strain reg. plain yogurt until thickened)
1 Tbsp (about 4
cloves) garlic, minced finely
1 heaping Tbsp
fresh chopped dill (or 2 tsp. dried dill)
1 Tbsp Lemon
Juice
1 Tbsp Red wine
vinegar
3 Tbsp olive
oil
1 tsp. coarse
kosher salt (to taste)
Directions:
Place grated
cucumber in a strainer over a bowl.
Sprinkle with kosher salt. This
will help to reduce the amount of moisture in the cucumber. Let sit for 20 minutes or so, then push
against strainer to remove excess moisture.
You can also dab with paper towel.
Add to the rest
of the ingredients. Taste and add more
salt if necessary. I would make this
ahead of time as it tastes even better when it has time for the flavors to
marry. Will store in the fridge for as
long as the yogurt says (a good week or more).
Greek
Salad
1/2 English
Cucumber, sliced in quarters, then 1/2" pieces
3 vine ripe
tomatoes, quartered, then slices in 1/2" pieces
1/2 red pepper,
chopped
1/2 yellow
pepper, chopper
1/2 cup
Kalamata black olives (sliced or whole)
1/2 small red
onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Flat
Leaf Parsley, chopped
1/2 cup Feta
cheese
3 Tbsp Olive
Oil
3 Tbsp Red wine
Vinegar
1 Tsp dried
oregano
1 tsp coarse kosher
salt
1/2 tsp.
freshly ground pepper
Directions:
I've give you
measurements for the salad dressing, but you'll save time and get a perfect
salad if you dress and taste. Add
dressing ingredients directly to the bowl without measuring. A round (pouring olive oil from a spout one
full turn) is approx. 1 Tbsp. So 3 or 4
rounds. 3 or 4 shakes of the vinegar
will equal approx. 1 Tbsp. Taste...need
more salt? More vinegar? Just add a bit more. Try it!
Add all
ingredients together except the cheese, sprinkle it on after it's done.
**Low
carb version: Use Sour cream instead of Yogurt (or half
& half) for the Tzatziki. Use a low
carb wrap instead of a pita bread.
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