Greek Chicken Souvlaki and Tzatziki Sauce

Ahhh, last Friday we ate our first dinner outside on Seattle's first 70 degree day... sigh, now back to the rain for a while, but you can get a taste of sunshine any time by making Greek Food.

I adore Greek Food, and Souvlaki appeals to everyone, even people who may not know that they like Greek food yet. It is so easy to make and easy to eat too.  Just grilled skewers of chicken, (beef, pork or lamb), flatbread (or pita) and some greek salad.  It's easy, it's heathy.  Tzatziki (say "Zatzeekie") is just a yummy yoghurt, cucumber and garlic spread or dip to use on top of your meal.

Here's the order I would make these dishes...
1) Marinate the chicken, best for a couple hours, or over night
2) Make Tzatziki
3) Make Salad, don't add salt, or oil until right before you serve it
4) Skewer and gril chicken, tastes under 10 minutes.

Serves about 4
Ingredients 

Chicken Souvlaki
4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes about 1"x1"
1 lemon, juiced
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1-2 tsp Greek Seasoning, like Cavenders (at grocery stores, or Cost Plus)
or
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano, dried
1/2 tsp. black pepper

8 Mediterranean flatbreads or pita breads 

Marinate all the above ingredients (except flatbreads/pita) in a ziploc bag for a couple of hours, or over night.

Soak bamboo skewers in water for about 30 minutes before you start to skewer the marinated chicken.  You know why?  To keep them from burning on the grill!!!  It really does help and looks better too!

Grill the chicken skewers for about 7-9 minutes on a grill that's about 400-450 degrees F. You'll be able to see that they are done, when they "bleed white".  That means as soon as you see the juices run more congealed and white looking.  Don't overcook, they should still be juicy, and not dry.

Ingredients 
Tzatziki
2 small persian cucumbers, finely grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup greek yoghurt (2% or whole milk is most authentic and best...)
Salt & pepper to taste

Drain off any liquid the cucumbers give off, or pat with a paper towel.  If you leave the juices in there, your tzatziki will be too runny and not as flavorful.

Greek Salad

Ingredients
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
2-3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
3-4 small persian cucumbers, diced
1 cup small tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion, diced
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
Seasoning, to taste (feta & olives are salty, you may not need any!)



Here's some more awesome Greek Recipes:
Baked Prawns and Feta with Orzo
Avgolemono- Greek Wedding Soup



Artichoke Olive Cheese Bread

MMMmmm, cheesy artichokes with olives on bread... can it get any better than that?  Maybe!  This appetizer is so easy to make, PLUS you can customize it for what you have on hand, or what you like! I have a list of ideas and variations at the bottom of the post for you to check out.

You know what makes this so fantastic to eat?  Each slice is already pre-loaded with cheese and topping and is read to go.  No more leaning over a dish of molten Artichoke cheese dips, trying to get some on your bread, this is way easier to eat. Another thing I like about this is that it appears to have less fat that the traditional dip that is made with mayonnaise, cream cheese and sour cream.

You could even pre-make this for a party, or get together, and then reheat at about 300 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  I made this last night and then kept it warm while the guys had to make a beer run before the movie night.  I did my technical duty and ate one piece when it was fresh, and had to eat another one when they got back- - yep, all in the name of research.  Both fantastic, heck, I will even admit it was awesome for breakfast this morning....

Below in the photo of ingredients, I have pictured more items that I called for in the list of ingredients, but I did that for a reason. I had it! I was thinking would be good on this bread, so I threw it in the photo.... just in case I got super inspired as I made it. With this one, use your imagination, it can be so many things.

(Whoops, I missed the Panko bread crumbs!)

Serves 4-8
Ingredients 

1 long french baguette
1/4 cup olive oil
1 14-ounce can of artichokes in water or brine, drained and chopped
1/2 cup green olives, drained and chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup seasoned panko bread crumbs
fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the baguette in half lengthwise and brush with the olive oil and place on a baking sheet.

Mix the chopped artichokes, garlic, olives, chopped parsley and about half the cheese together.

Heap on top of each side of the bread 

Top each side with the rest of the cheese, and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
Give them a pat (smash...) down with your hand to make sure that the filling is firmly onto the bread and won't cause some sort of hot cheesy accident when you trip to eat it.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, then heat the broiler and broil for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.  You can keep it in a warm oven (250) for about 20 minutes if needed.

Don't like olives?  Substitute something else:

• Use chopped spinach instead, fresh spinach would cook quickly enough in the oven and would be great.
• Skip brushing the bread with olive oil and spread the bread with cream cheese, or goat cheese!!!
• Add chopped green onions to the mixture.
• Chopped mushrooms would be great, but I would gently saute them before mixing them with the artichokes.
• Add green chilies, sliced black olives, Mexican cheeses and a little chili powder.  Yum...
• You know, you could add shredded chicken to it too!
• Feta... think of the possibilities!