I don’t know where to start with these Greek Chicken Bowls. I know it’s unusual for me to be at a loss for words when it comes to food, but I think it stems from there not being an interesting or exciting reason as for why I created this dish. There’s no restaurant meal these bowls are based on. The recipe isn’t adapted from some cookbook I like. I wasn’t making them with anyone particular in mind that loves Greek food or anything. I was simply trying to create a healthy lunch I could meal prep for Matt and I that wasn’t anything like any of the dishes I normally make. So that’s how these Greek Chicken Bowls came to be. Super uninteresting and definitely not exciting. But what is exciting is how a healthy meal can be so packed with flavors and textures.

These Greek Chicken Bowls have a few more components than my normal prepped meals, but all the components are so simple that I don’t even mind it. The star of the dish is the marinated chicken. It took me a couple tries to get it right, but the version I landed on imparts plenty of lemon and oregano flavor after the chicken has been baked with only thirty minutes of marinating time.

I also love that I always have all the ingredients right in my pantry or fridge so I can whip this Greek marinated chicken up any day of the week. I like using chicken tenders because they take less time to bake than chicken breasts. They also have more edges to soak up the Greek vinaigrette marinade making for even more flavorful Greek Chicken Bowls.

If you would rather grill your chicken, go for it! The juicy chicken gets served alongside some lemon cous cous, a quick cucumber salad and an easy yogurt mint sauce. I’m lemon obsessed and Greek food is big on lemon flavors so you knew I had to sneak it into multiple components! You could definitely make the chicken on its own and serve with different sides, but if you’re going to make more components than just the chicken I strongly recommend you make all four components. The chicken, cous cous, cucumber salad and yogurt sauce all balance each other and bring unique flavors to the dish creating that perfect bite!

Greek Chicken Bowls

 

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Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

for the chicken

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

for the cous cous

• ½ cup uncooked cous cous
• 1 tablespoon packed parsley leaves, finely chopped
• Zest from ½ lemon

for the cucumber salad

• 2 cup diced English cucumber, about ⅔ of a large English cucumber
• 1½ tablespoons finely diced red onion
• ½ - 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1½ tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon feta cheese crumbles
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tomato, for garnish

for the yogurt mint sauce

• 1 container plain nonfat Greek yogurt, about 5.3 ounces
• 2 leaves fresh mint, chopped
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

for the chicken

1. In a shallow bowl or container big enough to fit the chicken, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, dried oregano, dried parsley, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Add the chicken and make sure all the pieces get completely coated. Marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. When the chicken is done marinating, bake for 30 minutes (22 minutes for tenders) or until they register 165 degrees F with a meat thermometer. Let cool slightly then dice and divide among the 4 containers.

for the cous cous

1. Bring ½ cup water to boil in a small saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the cous cous and a pinch of salt. Stir then cover, letting sit for 10 minutes. The cous cous should absorb the water and be soft. Fluff with a fork then stir in the lemon zest and chopped parsley. You can add some olive oil if you would like, but I skipped it since I was trying to reduce the amount of oil in the overall dish. Divide the cous cous among the 4 containers.

for the cucumber salad

1. Combine the diced cucumber, diced red onion, minced garlic, olive oil and red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide among the 4 containers then divide the feta cheese between the 4 containers and sprinkle on top of the salad.

for the yogurt mint sauce

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Divide among the 4 containers.

Notes

This bowl is meant to be eaten cold because of the cucumber salad and yogurt sauce.

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Lauren Main Dishes, Poultry, Recipes 4 Comments

Welcome to the second recipe I made to use up my batch of Basil Pesto! This recipe is adapted from another cookbook I’ve had for a while and really love – Rachel Ray’s Look + Cook. The cookbook has awesome step-by-step photos to 100 different recipes that make my mouth water every time I flip through it.

It seems like people either love or hate Rachel Ray. I love her because all her recipes that I’ve made have come out so good. Matt, on the other hand, can’t stand when she comes on the Food Network and starts saying “EVOO” and “GB” (garbage bowl). Whatever Matt thinks about her acronyms, he is definitely a fan of this dish.

Rachel Ray named it Pesto Presto Chicken in her cookbook, so I kept the title since that’s how I always think of it. My version is chicken breasts stuffed with a pesto goat cheese mixture and topped with tomatoes and a little Parmesan. I know a lot of people don’t like tomatoes for textural reasons so you can certainly leave off the tomatoes if you are not a fan. If you are a fan, they add a fresh and juicy element to the dish that you don’t want to miss!

The first time I made this dish was for my Dad and I. As I’ve mentioned before, my Dad is very picky, especially when it comes to dinner meals. The chicken got rave reviews and he said he would definitely eat it again, which shocked both me and Diane! It’s kind of hard not to like this dish, though. Creamy pesto stuffed inside chicken? Yes, please!

The presto part comes from how quick the dish is to make. The only thing that takes me some time is butterflying and pounding out the chicken breasts so sometimes I will do that the day before so I can just fill and bake them the next night. Pesto Presto Chicken is perfect alongside some pasta or eaten with a side of asparagus or broccoli – yes, I know, my answer to everything! My Dad is my ultimate picky-meter so I guarantee your family will like this dish!

Pesto Presto Chicken

 

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Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup pesto
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 3 tablespoons milk (whatever you have in your fridge is fine)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ½ cup Parmesan, divided
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tomato
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil or spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the pesto, goat cheese, milk, garlic, Italian seasoning and ¼ cup of the Parmesan. If your goat cheese is too hard to stir, microwave it for 15 seconds or so until soft.
3. Butterfly each chicken breast so it resembles an open book. You do this by using a sharp knife to slice the chicken horizontally, but don’t cut all the way through to the other side because you want to be able to open it like a book. Lay plastic wrap over the butterflied chicken breast then evenly pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin until it’s ¼-inch thick. Place the chicken breast on the prepared baking sheet, still open. Spread ¼ of the prepared pesto mixture on one half of the chicken breast then fold the other half over top of it. Repeat with the remaining 4 chicken breasts.
4. Lay the tomato slices over top of the folded over chicken breasts. Lightly spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan over the tomato slices. Bake for 20 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. If you want more color on the tomatoes and Parmesan on top you could always broil them for 1 minute towards the end of baking.

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Lauren Main Dishes, Poultry, Recipes 0 Comments

Grab your pesto because you need to make these Pesto Turkey Meatballs as. soon. as. possible! I got the idea for these meatballs from a Hello Fresh box Matt and I got a couple months ago. Usually I already have our meals planned out, but every once and a while we will order one of those meal prep boxes to switch it up. The inspirational meal was pesto turkey burgers. It basically only used pesto to flavor the ground turkey, but I was shocked when the burgers were juicy and so flavorful. I decided to take that concept and create Pesto Turkey Meatballs.

Since I made first these, we’ve eaten them right from the oven, reheated in the microwave and even baked from frozen. Every time they taste so damn good! Ground turkey can tend to be dry, but the basil pesto keeps the meatballs incredibly moist, while also imparting a strong garlic, herb and Parmesan flavor. I added a little olive oil to the ground turkey mixture because I wanted to make sure they would be moist enough.

I love that once you make a bunch they are such a quick and easy meal. I included instructions for freezing them in the recipe below. As delicious as these Pesto Turkey Meatballs are, I need to talk about this Lemon Cauliflower Rice. As you all know, I’m obsessed with lemon and it pairs really well with pesto. Remember way back when to the Kale and Walnut Pesto Pasta with Lemon Shrimp?

I wanted to keep the meal healthy and veggie-centric so I decided to use cauliflower rice. How awesome is it that you can get frozen or fresh riced cauliflower (and other veggies!) in pretty much every grocery store now? It is such a healthy and fun way to switch up your usual meals. The Lemon Cauliflower Rice is so simple it’s ridiculous, but like a super addictive and flavorful ridiculous. You sauté garlic and the riced cauliflower together then stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Done!

I served these with some steamed broccoli and it was definitely two nights of silent dinner – also known as we didn’t say anything because we were too busy stuffing our faces!

Baked Pesto Turkey Meatballs over Lemon Cauliflower Rice

 

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Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

for the pesto turkey meatballs

• 16 ounces ground turkey
• ¼ cup basil pesto
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

for the lemon cauliflower rice

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 16 ounces riced cauliflower, about 4 cups
• ½ lemon, zested
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions

for the pesto turkey meatballs

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking pan with nonstick aluminum foil or spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, pesto, olive oil, salt and pepper. Try not to over-mix. Form the mixture into 16 meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. I like to divide the mixture in the bowl into 4 sections, then make 4 even-sized meatballs out of each section. Bake for 20 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Serve over the cauliflower rice with steamed broccoli.

for the lemon cauliflower rice

1. Mince the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the riced cauliflower and cook until almost tender. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and remove from the heat when the cauliflower rice is tender.

Notes

This is what I did to freeze the meatballs. I lined a small baking sheet that would fit in my freezer with wax paper. Then I formed the meatballs and placed them on the prepared baking sheet. Put them in the freezer and leave them in there until they harden then remove and put them all into a freezer bag. I baked them right from frozen and just added a couple minutes onto the baking time. Just temp them and make sure they reach 165 degrees F.
You can use fresh or frozen riced cauliflower for this recipe. I used the Trader Joe’s frozen riced cauliflower.

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Lauren Main Dishes, Poultry, Recipes 2 Comments