Dinners for a Year and Beyond: 07.2011

Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta

Every once in a while I hit upon a recipe that is amazing. Most of my recipes come about by trial and error and Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta is one such recipe. It is a combination of two recipes with a few extra ingredients thrown in.

Clients hire me as a personal chef for many reasons such as special diets, a fear/dislike of grocery shopping and cooking, and busy work and personal schedules and they would like to eat healthy, home cooked meals and not drive thru or restaurant food. The main advantage of having EAT! in your kitchen for a few hours is that you get fresh, home made meals, snacks, salads, and whatever else you would like that are personalized to your tastes. There is no set menu like at a restaurant so your dining options are limitless.

I cook for today's EAT! client on a weekly basis. A typical menu includes a variety of entrees and sides for dinners for the week, ingredients for making sandwiches for daily lunches and a salad of some sort. This week my client will be enjoying my latest creation of Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta. Grilled chicken is tossed with a chimichurri dressing along with kirby cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, scallions, chickpeas, fresh dill and feta cheese. The salad will stay fresh for a few days in the refrigerator.

Toss up a batch of Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta and be your own personal chef. Unless you want EAT! to do it for you ;)

Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta

serves 4

for chimichurri dressing -
1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves
1/2 jalapeno
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

for the salad --
olive oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders, cut in bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1 (10 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 kirby cucumber, seeded and chopped
4 scallions, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 lemon

In a food processor, combine the parsley, cilantro, oregano, vinegar, garlic, jalapeno, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pulse to combine. Drizzle in olive oil and process until dressing is slightly creamy but still coarse. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. ** Note -- This recipe makes more dressing than needed for the salad. Store remaining dressing in a covered dish in the refrigerator for about a week. Serve it on grilled steak, chicken, fish, or pork chops.

Heat a grill pan to medium high heat. Add a small drizzle of olive oil and the chicken. Cook for 5 - 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a large bowl. Toss with about 3 - 4 tablespoons of the dressing. Add fresh dill, chickpeas, cucumber, scallions, tomatoes, and feta cheese. Squeeze lemon over salad and toss to combine. Add more dressing if you would like. The salad can be served immediately or chilled.

Chicken with Asiago, Prosciutto and Fresh Sage

Summertime is for grilling. But it is also handy to have a quick and delicious dinner recipe that has a minimal amount of prep and cooking time. With Chicken with Asiago, Prosciutto and Fresh Sage, you will be in the kitchen for less than 20 minutes with plenty of time to enjoy dining al fresco.

Thin chicken cutlets are sauteed to a golden brown and then topped with asiago cheese and salty prosciutto. A few minutes in the oven adds a slight crisp to the Italian dry-cured ham and melts the cheese. A simple pan sauce of white wine, fresh sage and lemon completes the entree. Pair it will roasted red potatoes and a green salad topped with a balsamic vinaigrette and dinner is served.

Spend more time enjoying dinner and less time cooking.

Chicken with Asiago, Prosciutto and Sage

serves 4 - 6

adapted from this recipe

6 small skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
flour (leave off to make gluten free)
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup asiago cheese
6 thin prosciutto slices
2/3 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
whole sage leaves (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. coat both sides with flour, shaking off excess. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and the olive oil in large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and saute until brown, turning once about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to rimmed baking sheet; reserve the saute pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cheese over each chicken breast. Top each with a prosciutto slice and a little bit more of the cheese. Bake until prosciutto gets slightly crisp and the cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, add wine, minced sage, and 2 tablespoons butter to skillet. Boil until sauce is reduced to by half, scraping up browned bits, about 4 minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon juice.

Transfer chicken breasts to platter. Top each with sage leaf, drizzle pan sauce over, and serve.

Note - this entree can be made ahead of time. Prepare the recipe to just before putting the chicken in the oven. Cool prosciutto and asiago topped chicken. Then store in refrigerator. Cook in oven according to recipe and add about 5 minutes to the cooking time to make sure chicken is heated through.