Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Easy Four Course Meal


I make chicken souvlaki a lot in the spring and summer months. It takes a few minutes to prep, marinates all day, and cooks really quickly on the grill.

I served it last night with butter rice, grilled asparagus and an arugula salad. It was the easiest four course meal, tasted great and I never even had to turn on the stove.

Butter rice
My mother-in-law's delicious trick. Cook white rice (I use Niko Niko Calrose Rice in a rice cooker) then toss with a few tablespoons of butter and some chicken bouillon.

Grilled Asparagus
I could eat asparagus everyday when it's in season so it's my veggie of choice right now. I don't know that I could ever get sick of it. Toss with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. Cook on the BBQ for a few minutes and voila - delicious!

Arugula Salad
Also in season so I'm sucking it down on a daily basis. Mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons white balsamic, 1 teaspoon maple syrup, salt & pepper in a small jar (I save old Dijon jars for this purpose). Shake really well. Toss arugula with some dressing and freshly grated parmesan. Even my daughter gobbles this up.

Chicken Souvlaki
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces *
3 or 4 lemons, juiced
¼ olive oil
5 garlic cloves, quartered and smashed a bit with the side of a large knife
2 t dried oregano
2-3 T fresh oregano, minced
½ t garlic salt
Salt and pepper

In the morning
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl or ziploc bag and let marinate all day (stirring or shaking up from time to time if you think about it).

In the evening
Soak skewers in water for 20 minutes so they don’t burn on the grill. Put chicken pieces on skewers and grill on the BBQ for 10-15 minutes.

* You can ask the guys at the meat counter if they will cut up the chicken for you. If they aren’t too busy they're generally happy to do it. It saves time and I also hate working with raw chicken so it's a nice way around it.

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