Greek Lemon Garlic Chicken Salad

I love this salad.  Just look at it.  All of the colors and flavors and freshness.  I might be so close as to calling it perfect.  The dressing/marinade is mmm, mmm, tasty and adding it all together with a little Tzatziki sauce is starting to make my mouth water as I'm typing this.  One of the great things about salads is how you can add more of what you really like and take away some of what you don't.  Kalamata olives are pretty strong but I love the kick they add.  Now I couldn't eat a jar full of them, but eating them combined with the other ingredients in this salad was oh so good.

Our family loves us some Naan bread.  One of these days I really need to learn how to make it.  We loved scooping the salad up with the bread and putting some chicken slices on top with a dollop of the tzatziki.  I'm sure there are other breads that would work - like flatbread - if you don't prefer Naan.  

This salad might look like it has a lot going on but it really doesn't take much time at all to put together.  The chicken can marinade up to a day in advance and the Tzatziki sauce can be made ahead of time, too.  Then you just dice up the salad ingredients and cook the chicken and you've got yourself a meal that people would pay good money for at a restaurant!  

Greek Lemon Garlic Chicken Salad

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

4 thinner boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Naan bread (store-bought)

Marinade/Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Tzatziki

1 cup Greek yogurt, plain

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and grated

1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Salt, to taste

For the Salad

2 cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced thick

8 oz grape tomatoes

1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced

1/4 red onion, sliced thin

4 oz. Feta cheese, cubed or crumbled

1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives

Directions

Whisk together the marinade/dressing ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour out 1/3 cup to use later as the dressing and store in the refrigerator.  Pour the rest into a large ziplock bag.

Add the chicken to the bag with the marinade and allow to marinade for at least 30 minutes.  If I'm on top of things I like to marinade it overnight in the refrigerator to make sure the chicken soaks up as much flavor as possible.

For the Tzatziki: combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Remove the chicken from the bag and place in the skillet.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through (about 6 minutes each side).  You want the internal temperature to reach at least 165 degrees F.  Once chicken is cooked through, remove from the pan and place on a large plate.  Cover the plate with aluminum foil and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes.  

Add all the salad ingredients to a large bowl and toss to combine.  Arrange on a large serving platter or individual plates.  Slice the rested chicken and add to the platter or plates.  Warm up Naan bread and add to the platter or plates.  Drizzle the salad with the reserved 1/3 cup marinade/dressing.  Serve with the Tzatziki sauce.

Recipe Source:  adapted slightly from cafe delights.