Chicken Souvlaki and Greek Potato Salad

Tonight was the first great BBQ weather of May.  I decided to go Greek.  I had my husband grill the souvlaki (which I marinated earlier in the day) and I made the potato salad.  It was a fabulous dinner.  Next time I may add some cucumbers in yogurt sauce, but there was not time to make that side dish today.

Chicken Souvlaki: 
4 T. fresh lemon juice
3 – 4 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. Greek herb seasoning
2 – 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk everything together and set aside while preparing souvlaki sticks.

Souvlaki Meat Sticks:

1 lb. chicken, cubed

1 to 3 bell peppers, cubed

1 onion, white or purple, cubed

Soak your wooden sticks in water for at least 30 minutes and then assemble your chicken alternating with peppers and/or onion cubes. Place in shallow pan or dish and pour marinade evenly over all of the souvlaki and let marinate overnight or at least a few hours, turning once.

Place sticks on outdoor or indoor grill. Depending on the thickness and size, cook evenly on both sides until chicken is cooked through (about ten minutes or so).

GREEK POTATO SALAD:

Ingredients:

• 5-6 medium-large potatoes (I used red)
• 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup of lemon juice
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 4 green onions, chopped
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 to 1 cup feta cheese

Preparation:

Cut potatoes into large, bite-sized chunks of approximately the same size, and rinse well. Add potatoes to a pot of cold water to cover by 1 1/2 inches, bring to a boil, and boil at medium-high heat. Test after 15 minutes for doneness – they should be easily pierced with a fork. Remove when done, drain, and place in a serving bowl or dish.  Let potatoes cool to room temperature.  Add green onions, feta and parsley.

To make the dressing, in a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper with a whisk.  Pour dressing over salad and toss well.  Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Crab Louis

Not MediterrAsian, but American (cringe).  You can click on the image for a better view.  This is a totally simple salad of lettuce, tomatoes, hard-cooked eggs and crab or shrimp.  What makes this salad is the Louis dressing.  However, I have noticed the few times I’ve ordered this salad in restaurants, they have asked me what dressing would I like.  I think they are missing the point of this delicious salad altogether; the delicate, pink-hued dressing.

Here is a version of the traditional dressing.  (I discovered online that Worcestershire and hot sauce are also common ingredients.  I’m going to try that next time.)

Louis Dressing:
1 cup mayo
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup cream, whipped
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped fine
1/4 cup green onion, chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and chill.

Chicken with Brie and Baby Spinach Salad

Loved this salad!  It is totally up my ally with brie and sautéed shallots and balsamic vinegar – all flavors I adore.  Add chicken, spinach, some crumbled bacon and you’ve got YUM.  I suppose this recipe is more French than MediterrAsian (like my last entry).  Even so, it’s fairly healthy and worth adding to my blog.  Here is the link: Chicken with Brie and Baby Spinach Salad.  The only change I made was using two tablespoons of olive oil in which to sauté the shallots.  (Someone noted in the recipe reviews that the cook used 2 tablespoons in the video, but the recipe only listed 1 tablespoon.)

P.S. Click on the picture for a better view.

Salad Nicoise

In honor of Bastille Day, I went French this evening with our dinner.  I decided to use Julia Child’s recipe simply because I’ve never made anything from Julia Child before.  This main course salad consists of a bed of lettuce topped with cooked green beans, potatoes, eggs, and tomatoes, olives and tuna.  I skipped the capers and anchovies.  The salad is dressed with a traditional vinaigrette.  I thought it was very good.  Julia’s recipe can be found here: salad nicoise.

Mango Lassi

I was inspired to try this drink by my blogging friend Lisa.  Mmm, I’m so glad I did!  It is a combination of mango, yogurt, milk, ice and cardamom (essentially, an Indian fruit smoothie).  Here is the link to Lisa’s recipe: mango lassi.  Lisa made a larger batch (as she had canned mango pulp on hand), but as I was using one, fresh mango, here are the quantities I used:

1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup plain, Greek yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 TBS sugar
dash (or two) of cardamom
ice

I blended all ingredients together and poured it over ice, but you can also add some ice cubes while blending.

Gazpacho!

I am always amazed that the combination of simple ingredients in this cold soup turn out to be so completely scrumptious.  Every summer when I make this for the first time, I can’t seem to get enough of it.  It absolutely hits the spot on a warm day.  There are many recipes for gazpacho out there; I’ll list the one I use.

Gazpacho

1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 TBS chopped parsley or cilantro (depending on preference)
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBS red wine vinegar
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 cups tomato or V8 juice (I use V8)

Chop ingredients as finely or as chunky as you prefer.  Combine all ingredients and chill thoroughly (at least four hours).  This soup is lovely topped with homemade garlic croutons.

Teriyaki Scallops & Noodles

Delicious.  The original recipe called for chicken, but substituted scallops.  I would have used the large, sea scallops, but at twenty dollars a pound, I opted for the smaller, less expensive version.  The result was a very tasty meal.  The recipe can be found here: teriyaki chicken noodles, as well as in the MediterrAsian Way cookbook.

Linguine with Crab, Asparagus and Lemon

I haven’t posted since August (it’s now February) and here I am with another crab and noodle dish.  I made this for our Valentine’s dinner last night.  Due to crying children, I only snapped a shot of the meal on the stove, instead of trying to make it look pretty on a plate.  My husband and I give this dish two thumbs up.  The combination of noodles, crab, asparagus, tomatoes, garlic and lemon – perfect.  I will definitely make it again.  Here is the recipe: linguine and crab.

Thai Fusion Crab & Noodles

This dish is a fusion of Thai and Italian cuisine.  I’d call that MediterrAsian!  And yum.  It was such an interesting combination of flavors.  At first I wasn’t sure what I thought, but with each bite, I became more and more of a fan.  My husband really enjoyed it too.  I will definitely make this again.  The fresh tomato sauce includes garlic, ginger, chili sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce.  It’s very good.  Here is the link: chili crab noodles.

Chicken & Rice Salad with Avocado and Pine Nuts

This cold rice salad is similar to the one I made earlier, but different.  I’m not sure which one I prefer; they are both very good.  The other one is more lemony, while this one is more Dijon-y.  I’m a big fan of avocado, too, so this one might have an edge.  And it’s got olives!  Here is the link: Chicken & Rice Salad with Avocado and Pine Nuts.

Notes: I had brown rice in the house, so I did not bother buying a mix.  Also, I used Canola oil for the dressing, not vegetable oil.  The pine nuts were nice, but next time I think I’d stick with the slivered almonds because they have a stronger crunch, in my opinion.