Greek Salad Bruschetta

I'm not quite ready to talk about the Superbowl yet.  But I think I'm finally ready to talk about the food.  We did have lots and lots of food.



I wanted to make something a little bit lighter than the typical wings, chips, dip, and pizza this year.  I loved this bruschetta because it was a little bit different than regular bruschetta, was nice and light, and is easy to pick up and enjoy while watching the game.  Plus, it reminded me of the Greek salad we get when we visit our family friends in Florida, and it was right around the Superbowl last time I was down there.



The Monkey Scientist and his roommate hosted the Superbowl party this year and, despite the outcome, we all had a great time.  It was a true hodge-podge of our friends, but it was really great to get everyone together.  Folks seemed to like the bruschetta, although it may not have been the right crowd because the chicken tenders were eaten much faster.  I think this would be a great appetizer for a dinner party or even a family holiday because it comes together pretty quickly.  It's light, a bit acidic, and tasty.  Even though I am not a tomato-lover, I enjoyed this one a lot!



Greek Salad Bruschetta
slightly adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients
French baguette, sliced
1-2 tbsp butter, softened.
1/2 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled and diced
1/3 cup kalamata olives, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 tsp Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spread butter on baguette slices. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until baguette slices are golden brown and toasted.
3. In a medium bowl, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, and red onion. Add red wine vinegar, lemon juice and feta cheese. Stir until well combined. Season with oregano, Cavender's, salt and pepper.  Bruschetta topping can be kept in the fridge for a couple hours before using.
4. Top baguette slices with bruschetta topping. Serve immediately.

Chicken Souvlaki Pita with Skinny Tzatziki

I had some leftover chicken breast tenders from my trip to H-Mart, so when this simple recipe popped up on the Tasty Kitchen blog I thought it would be a great way to use them up! (Don't worry, I kept them frozen since I bought them!)

I use chicken breast tenders pretty frequently. I'm not sure of the nutritional difference between full breasts and the breast tenders, but the tenders are usually a lot less expensive.  When I'm chopping up the chicken by the end of the recipe anyway, like I do here (especially because I pounded it out), it made a lot of sense to go this route.

The real secret ingredient to this recipe is Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning.  I know, another pre-mixed spice blend, but they are so easy to use! I found it at a specialty market, but hopefully you can find it in larger grocery stores as well.  Penzy's also has a greek spice blend, and it may be worth trying that instead (probably has less sodium!), although Cavender's does have a very unique flavor.

Tzatziki is one of the most delicious condiments - and it's so easy to make a skinny version.  I adapted this recipe from missamy's version on Tasty Kitchen as well as the version on Gina's Skinny.  Greek yogurt is now really easy to find in grocery stores and it gives the tzatziki the perfect tang!

Don't cut up the cucumbers in the tzatziki too small - it's nice when they give a little bite to the sandwich!

P.S. there is no cottage cheese in this recipe.  I used the old container to store the tzatziki!  It's all about recycling!

Overall, we really enjoyed this sandwich.  I loved that I could prep everything either in the morning, the night before, or even right when I get home from work, and then, when we get hungry, throw the chicken on the Foreman for 2 minutes and have a meal ready in under 5. When the Monkey Scientist got home from a late flight, I had dinner ready before he could walk to my apartment from the metro, even though I'd been running errands all evening. And he told me I make a mean tzatziki - didn't even notice that it was skinnified! The chicken has so much flavor from the greek seasoning, and the tzatziki balanced it perfectly.

Now that the weather is warming up (it's been in the 80s in DC!) and we're days away from the pool being open on weekends, I'll have to have this prepped at all times for a perfect Sunday lunch by the pool!

Chicken Souvlaki Pita with Skinny Tzatziki

Adapted from missamy on Tasty Kitchen and Gina's Skinny

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

for the chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (about 6 tenders)

4 teaspoons Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning

4 teaspoons olive oil

for the tzatziki

6-8 oz plain, non-fat greek yogurt

1/2 cucumber, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper

3 whole wheat pitas

Instructions:

Pound out the chicken breast until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

Rub down with a little bit of olive oil, then season both sides generously with the Cavender's Greek Seasoning. Wrap in plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator to let marinate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Meanwhile, mix greek yogurt, chopped cucumbers, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Grill the chicken until no longer pink. (This takes about 2 minutes on the George Foreman grill, but you could definitely use a real grill!)

Spoon a good amount of tzatziki in each pita.  Slice chicken into strips and divide evenly between pitas. Enjoy!

Roasted red pepper pesto pasta with olives and feta

I saw this recipe this afternoon and knew I had to make it for dinner!  I keep trying to quit eating carbs, but it just doesn't tend to work out.  A good recipe makes it totally worth needing to run a little more often!

This recipe is actually a series of 3 recipes from Closet Cooking.

 The first is recipe is really just a set of instructions of how to roast peppers when you don't have a grill or gas stove.  Instead, you roast them in the oven. Super easy!













The next recipe is a greek-style sundried tomato pesto.  Check out the adorable measuring spoons I got for Christmas!

 The peso is simple.  You just throw everything in the food processor and blend away!

The final result is a lovely smooth sauce for the pasta!

 

You can use any pasta you like.  I'm a big coupon user and I got a great deal on mini versions of classic pasta shapes from Barilla.  They're an awesome shape.

Finally, I mixed the pesto into the pasta with feta and kalamata olives.  The olive bar at Giant only had pitted kalamata olives - it was a pain to depit them all.  I recommend searching for the pitted kind.

The final result was pretty tasty.  I probably wouldn't make it again, but a recipe has to be SUPER good for me to want to make it again.  I'd give this about a 3 out of 5.

Here are the recipes from Closet Cooking:

How to Roast Red Peppers

(makes 1 roasted red pepper)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
red peppers

Directions:
1. Cut the red peppers in half, remove the stem and seeds.
2. Place the red peppers on a baking sheet with the cut side facing down.
3. Preheat the oven to 450F and then change it to broil.
4. Place the baking sheet on the top shelf in the oven and broil until the outer layer of the skin has blackened, about 10-20 minutes.
5. Place the peppers in a zip-lock bag or other sealable container, seal and let them cool until you can handle them, about 20 minutes.
6. Remove the skins from the peppers. The skins should easily "pinch" off.

Greek Style Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

(makes 1/2 cup)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 large roasted red peppers
1 tablespoons fresh oregano (optional)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tablespoons pine nuts (toasted)
2 tablespoons feta (crumbled)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place everything into a food processor and puree.

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pasta with Feta and Kalamata Olives

(makes 4 servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound pasta (I used whole wheat penne)
1/2 cup greek style roasted red pepper pesto
1/4 cup kalamata olives (pitted and coarsely chopped)
1 handful parsley (chopped)
1/2 cup feta (crumbled)

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta as directed on the package.
2. Drain the pasta reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
3. Toss the pasta with the pesto, pasta water, olives and parsley.
4. Serve garnished with crumbled feta.