It's Greek To Me Birthday Dinner!

Over the weekend we celebrated my niece’s Birthday!  I decided to make it with Greek/Mediterranean flavors.  It was light, healthy, delicious and easy to prepare, I am a lazy cook.  I made this for 10 people you can adjust anything to your likings.  If you don’t need this much you can divide it into the portions you want and freeze the chicken after cooking, it re-heats in microwave great.

Hummus & Pita Bread   

 

Ingredients 2 can (16 oz) Garbanzo Beans drained & rinsed 2 cloves Garlic 1/4 cup Lemon Juice 1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Salt to taste Pepper to taste 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil optional 6 each Pita Bread cut into quarters

Instructions
Juice Lemon
Place all ingredients into food processor mix until it is a fine paste or the consistency that you like, if it is to thick you can add water. A blender can also be used.
Everything can be adjusted to your taste, lemon juice, cumin, salt, pepper, etc.
Put into serving bowl and chill for 1 hour

Heat Pita Bread
Before serving sprinkle Hummus with Paprika and drizzle with olive oil

Greek Salad & Dressing   

 

Light, Healthy & Delicious Ingredients 3 Head Romaine Lettuce 5 each Tomato cut into wedges 1/4 cup Calamata Olives pitted & drained 1 small Red Onion chopped or sliced 1/4 cup Feta cheese crumbled & sprinkled 1/4 cup Garbanzo Beans 1 English Cucumber peeled, sliced into wedges (seed if you like) 1/2 cup Extra virgin olive oil for dressing 1/4 cup Lemon Juiced for dressing 1/4 teaspoon Salt for dressing 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper for dressing 2 tablespoons Fresh Oregano chopped

Instructions
Tear Romaine Lettuce, place in bowl or platter
Cut Tomatoes of your choice into wedges, sprinkle over Romaine
Add Calamata Olives, Red Onions, Garbanzo Beans, Feta Cheese

SALAD DRESSING
Mix Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon juice, salt, pepper, fresh chopped Oregano whisk until thickened. Spoon onto salad right before serving.

Greek Chicken Breast   

 

A healthy easy chicken dish, with Greek flavors. Ingredients 2 cups Extra virgin olive oil 3 Lemons juiced 1 Head Garlic peeled & chopped 1 bunch Fresh Oregano chopped 1 teaspoon Salt 1 teaspoon Pepper 10 Chicken breast boneless & skinless

Instructions

DAY BEFORE

Juice Lemons
Chop garlic as fine as you like
Chop fresh oregano
Rinse chicken breast

Put everything into a large (1 gallon) plastic storage bag, shake it up to make sure all is mixed and chicken is coated. Place in the refrigerator over night, turn over once in the morning.
TIP: You might want to place the plastic bag inside of the baking dish your going to bake it in tomorrow, then if it leaks you won’t have a mess all over your refrigerator.

COOKING

This is really a baked chicken dish, I put it on the grill just to get the grill marks.
Why? Because I can’t cook chicken on the grill to save my life. Another reason I bake it is so that I can pour the marinade on top of the chicken, makes it very moist and tender.

Place chicken in a baking dish and pour marinade on top, cover with foil and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes at 400°. Make sure internal temp is at least 165° degrees. The marinade should come to a boil (to be safe) and will thicken.

Place chicken on serving dish and pour remaining sauce over the top.

TIP: This recipe serves 10 because I brought a large pack of chicken breast, you can freeze half for another time or use as left overs or for lunches.

Tzatziki Yogurt Sauce   

Creamy yogurt sauce, as side dish to spoon on chicken breast. Ingredients 1 ea English Cucumber chopped into small cubes 2 cloves Garlic chopped fine 2 cups Plain Greek Yogurt 2 tablespoons Oregano fresh or dried

Instructions
Best if made chilled the night before.

Peel Cucumber, chop into small cubes
Peel and chop garlic cloves very fine

Mix all together, chill 1 hour, serve on the side to use on top of the chicken