Grilled Greek Chicken Kebabs with Mint-Feta Sauce

My life has gotten a bit hectic these past few weeks, with a fun trip to Las Vegas, work trip to Boston, my parents visited over Labor Day weekend and the following week I ended up with a super painful problem in my jaw that has made me not want to cook or eat anything that involves chewing. But, I am on the mend!  And ready to share more yummy food with you all.

So today, I bring you one of my favorite dinner recipes ever.  This is from Martha Stewart’s cookbook, Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast.

The chicken and vegetables marinates in a delicious vinegar concoction overnight, so they develop great flavor, and then you skewer them and grill them.  I love grilled anything.  To top everything off, you whip up a dipping sauce that is full of feta, high-protein greek yogurt and mint, which is the perfect complement to the chicken, zucchini and red onion.

The marinade makes a lot, and although I only listed four chicken breasts in the recipe below, I often squeeze six into the marinate and it works great.  So we can eat a lot and still have leftovers 🙂

This is absolutely awesome transformed into a salad the next day, too.  Add some romaine, tomatoes and cucumber with the chicken, zucchini and red onion pieces, and use the feta yogurt dipping sauce as dressing.

For dinner, I served these with some of my lemon & garlic roasted broccoli and some brown rice with lemon and pine nuts.  De-lish!

What you’ll need: chicken, zucchini, red onion, extra virgin olive oil, dried oregano, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, feta, greek yogurt and fresh mint leaves.

Start by preparing the marinade.  In a reusable plastic bag, combine chicken, zucchini, onion, olive oil, oregano, and 2 Tablespoons vinegar; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Marinate the chicken and veggies at room temperature 30 minutes or refrigerate overnight.  If you have the time, marinating overnight adds so much extra flavor so I highly recommend for this step.

When you’re ready to cook, pre-heat your grill to medium and lightly oil grates.  Onto each skewer, thread the 4 pieces of chicken, zucchini and onion (or whatever fits best on your skewers.)  If you’re using wood skewers, make sure you soak them before you thread the meat and veggies onto them.  I soaked my wooden skewers for about 20 minutes.

Grill skewers, turning occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, 12 to 14 minutes.

To make sauce, blend feta, yogurt, mint and remaining tablespoon of vinegar in a food processor until smooth.

Serve kebabs with dipping sauce and extra mint leaves.

Grilled Greek Chicken Kebabs with Mint-Feta Sauce
Adapted slightly from Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (the original recipe calls for skinless chicken thighs, but I prefer white meat)
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 red onion, quartered lengthwise, layers separated
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 Tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• vegetable oil, for grill
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta (2 oz)
• 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt (original recipe calls for regular yogurt, but I prefer the thicker texture when using greek yogurt)
• 1 cup packed fresh mint leaves, plus extra for garnish

Steps

1. In a reusable plastic bag, combine chicken, zucchini, onion, olive oil, oregano, and 2 Tablespoons vinegar; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
2. Marinate at room temperature 30 minutes (or refrigerate up to overnight; place bag on a plate, in case of leaks.) I highly suggest refrigerating overnight if you have the time!
3. Heat grill to medium and lightly oil grates.
4. Onto each skewer, thread the 4 pieces of chicken, zucchini and onion (or whatever fits best on your skewers.)
5. Grill skewers, turning occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, 12 to 14 minutes.
6. To make sauce, blend feta, yogurt, mint and remaining tablespoon of vinegar in a food processor until smooth.
7. Serve kebabs with dipping sauce and extra mint leaves.

Hugs, kisses & yummy dishes… xoxo
Lauren