Go Greek!

We visited Chris and Abby in Flagg for Easter and went to a fabulous Greek restaurant called Taverna... we got home and were craving it so created our own Grilled Chicken Pitas from a variety of recipes. WOAH. They are yummy. And healthy too! (Pardon the pics from my iPhone... I was too hungry to mess around with my big camera so they are kind of lame but oh well!)

First make your greek yogurt cucumber sauce- or Tzatziki!! YUMMY! We love this. Ger especially. The recipe we like is below...

Chop up the veggies you want to add to it... Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives... red onions diced... You can add these to your pita without a dressing or toss them together lightly in a greek style dressing. LIGHTLY is the key word... and right before serving. We love it! Recipe below...

Then grill your chicken... or get a Costco chicken... or use leftover meat of some sort. We like brining the chicken, with the recipe below. The chicken comes out so juicy and tender with the yummiest flavor.

Next saute peppers and onions in the greek style dressing you just added to your veggies. Add just enough dressing to cover the bottom of the pan, toss in all the veggies, and saute the peppers and onions just until tender-crisp. This does not take long at all- just a few minutes. Don't overcook- you don't want soggy veggies. :-)

Warm your pitas and then assemble! (Ger hadn't added his salad to it but it was such a pretty picture already- ha!) Greek style yogurt first is best and then throw everything on after that... the veggies/salad, grilled chicken, sauteed veggies, and even some feta cheese if you want! Wrap up if you can... and enjoy. It is such a tasty treat. I mean meal!

Easy Greek Style Dressing

1 ripe lemon, zested and juiced

3 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it

2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano, 4 stems, stripped of leaves and chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/greek-grilled-chicken-and-vegetable-salad-with-warm-pita-bread-for-wrapping-recipe/index.html

Greek Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, grated and squeezed as dry as possible
• 2 teaspoons red or rice wine vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt and pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, mix sour cream, yogurt, cucumber, vinegar, 1 minced garlic clove, and salt and pepper to taste; set aside.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Warm-Greek-Pita-Sandwiches-With-Turkey-and-Cucumber-Yogurt-Sauce/Detail.aspx

Grilled Chicken (WITHOUT Moroccan Dipping Sauce!)

1/4 c salt

1/2 c sugar

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 TBS oil

Ground black pepper

Dissolve sugar and salt in 1 quart (4 cups) of cold water in a gallon Ziploc bag. Add chicken, press out as much air as possible from the bag and seal. Refrigerate about 20 minutes. (I didn't refrigerate it because I like my meat to come to room temp before cooking, so it cooks evenly.) Preheat grill. Removed chicken from brine and rinse well under cold running water. Toss or brush chicken with oil, sprinkle with pepper. Cook smooth side down until dark grill marks appear, about 5 minutes. Turn and continue grilling, covered, about 3 minutes. Temp should be 160.