Luckily, the house is already clean because Jenn and Justin came over for dinner tonight!
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| Can we talk about Justin's face? He's awesome. |
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| Another example of his awesomeness |
I love having company over for obvious reasons, but it also helps motivate Terry and I to give the ol' apartment a good scrubbing. But of course the real highlight of the night was hanging out with good friends and enjoying each other's company. Add great food and great wine and my night is a winner!
The menu tonight was actually inspired by my big brother, who has been experimenting with new recipes quite a lot. He's a total grill master, so I'm always excited when he shares a recipe that I can actually make at home (we don't have a BBQ). Last week, Chris bragged about some Greek chicken pitas, and I used his marinade recipe to create delicious pitas for everyone.
Greek Chicken Pitas
Serves 4
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| Absolutely perfect for spring |
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Juice and zest from 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons dried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon each:
- dry mustard
- ground cumin
- ground coriander
- salt
- cayenne pepper
- Black pepper to taste
Pitas:
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 2 cups (or more!) romaine lettuce
- 2-4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- Diced cucumber, for topping
- Sliced red onion, for topping
- 4 whole-wheat pita pockets (we like Trader Joe's)
- Vinaigrette
Vinaigrette (optional):
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Whisk ingredients for the marinade together. If you feel it's too thick, add more lemon juice and olive oil until the consistency is to your liking. Place the rinsed chicken breasts in a large plastic bag and pour the marinade over the chicken, turning to coat completely. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Heat a grill pan to medium-high heat and spray with olive oil (I use my Misto sprayer, but you can just pour a bit of olive oil on the pan). Once hot, place each chicken breast in the pan; discard the marinade. Cook 6 minutes on each side on medium heat, or until cooked through (my chicken was thick, so I covered the pan to help it cook through; toward the end, I cut the breasts into smaller chunks to help them cook faster). When done, dice the chicken into bite-sized chunks.
Whisk ingredients for the vinaigrette together. Spoon into assembled pitas.
We placed all the ingredients on the table and let everyone assemble their own pita pocket.
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| Better than a centerpiece! |
They were a huge hit! We all commented on how light and healthy they tasted, but they were full of flavor, and the chicken was seriously incredible. Put one in the win column for my big brother! One downside: We had some delicious wine, courtesy of Jenn and Justin, but we couldn't put our pitas down without fear of them completely falling apart.
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Oh, well, more wine for later!
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Other positives to this meal: After the marinade (which is only two hours), cook time was 30 minutes MAX. And clean up was a snap! One pan, one cutting board. And you get tons of vegetables, healthy protein, and whole grains. Delicious and super easy!
We spent the rest of the evening hot tubbing and chatting and then all called it a night around 10:45. We're wild and crazy kids I tell ya. Then I tried to write this post before bed but fell asleep tying the ingredients and opted for sleep in my bed instead of on the couch.
Today we have plans to attend a friend's get together and then keep things pretty mellow. I'm hoping I can convince Terry that we need to go to Crate & Barrel (please!!!), and then we have more TV to catch up on. My knee is still bugging me a bit, but I did a little walking yesterday and it wasn't horrible. Hopefully I can play around with some yoga before dinner.
Hope you enjoy a wonderful Saturday, and I hope your weather looks as nice as ours!
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