Grilled Chicken Souvlaki
Tzatziki Sauce:
Whisk together in small bowl, and let stand for 10 min:
1 Tbl lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
Stir in:
3/4 C plain Greek yogurt (or homemade yogurt, drained)
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
3 Tbl fresh mint, minced
1 Tbl fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp salt
Chicken Marinade
Combine:
1/3 C Olive Oil
2 Tbl. Fresh Parsley, minced
1 tsp. lemon zest
Juice of 2 lemons (1/4 C)
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
Soak 6 wooden skewers in water.
De-bone 2 chicken leg/thigh. (Not sure how to de-bone a chicken leg/thigh? Watch this clip, and sharpen your knife.) -Or- use 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Cut boneless meat into 2″ pieces.
Toss the chicken pieces with half of the Chicken Marinade. Set aside while you prepare the vegetables.
Quarter and remove seeds from 1 bell pepper (red or green). Cut each quarter into 4 chunks.
Peel 1 small red onion, halve lengthwise, and cut each half into 4 chunks.
Thread 3-4 pieces of bell pepper on a skewer, followed by 4-5 pieces of chicken, followed by 1-2 pieces of onion.
Repeat with the remaining skewers, chicken, and vegetables.
Heat grill until hot. Place skewers on the hot grill and cook on high, turning occasionally, until the chicken and vegetables are well browned on all sides, and the chicken registers 140°-160°, about 15-20 minutes.
Using a tongs or fork, push the chicken and vegetables off the skewer into a bowl. Pour the remainder of the Chicken Marinade over the chicken and vegetables, and stir or toss gently to break up the chicken pieces and onion chunks. Cover with foil, and let sit for 5 minutes.
To Serve:
Place a serving of chicken and vegetables in warm pita bread (or tortilla wrap), top with 2-3 Tbl. of Tzatziki sauce. Enjoy.
Thanks to America’s Test Kitchen for this recipe. ATK is all about the science of cooking, and doing scores of trials to solve kitchen problems and to find ‘the best’ recipe. I appreciate their recipes, but the the detailed directions a bit tedious and irksome. So the above recipe is really a paired down version of their recipe!
Tzatziki sauce. (insert eyes with hearts) Tzatziki is the epitome of Spring and Summer. The combination of mint, cucumber, and lemon is light and fresh. The yogurt adds creamy goodness. It makes the dish. And now I’m looking for anything that can go under Tzatziki sauce. Suggestions?
Recipe Rating:
I give this recipe 4.5 stars for flavor. It’s So. Good. The grilled chicken and vegetables give a smoky taste that complements the freshness of the Tzatziki sauce.
It gets 2.5 stars for ease and speed. Granted, I de-boned the leg/thigh, which is time consuming. But also threading the skewers. To try it again, I would de-bone the chicken, and marinate and grill the chicken pieces whole. (And grill the pepper and onions in halves.) Then I would cut the chicken into pieces for a sandwich, OR forgo the bread part, and just serve grilled chicken and veg with Tzatziki sauce.
Back to Tzatziki sauce. And Greek food. The olives…and feta…and of course Tzatziki sauce. Then there’s the gyro. Here’s a YouTube video featuring Luke Bryan and Jimmy Fallon commiserating on the pronunciation of ‘gyro’. Very funny.