Grilled Chicken, Feta, Spinach Slider Skewers

Looking for something just a little different on the grill the other day, I put together this Greek-inspired dinner. It was almost a complete dinner-on-the-grill meal with the veggie skewers I grilled at the same time. Well, I did have to make classic Greek tzatziki to spoon over the sliders. Because tzatziki!

What makes these sliders a little bit Greek? Feta cheese for starters...and the classic Greek flavors of lemon, oregano, and garlic with some fresh spinach for color and juiciness. In fact, if you think of ground chicken as lacking in moisture, this is just the mixture to dispell that thought. Tangy feta, tart lemon, earthy oregano, zippy garlic and green spinach make these sliders a burger mixture you and your guests will really enjoy!

If you can find long, flat bamboo skewers, they are the best! Burgers, sliders, meatballs or whatever you skewer and grill stays put instead of rolling around a round skewer making it a pain to easily get nice grill marks on both sides. Look at the grill marks in the pic! These are so easy to turn and flip, I'm picking up a new supply when I get to World Market in Michigan next month. 

To serve, tuck a slider into a wedge of toasted pita or onto a slider bun, garnish with grilled veggies and slather with a healthy helping of cucumber-y, minty tzatziki. Eat. Repeat!

Grilled Chicken, Feta, Spinach Slider Skewers

• 1 lb ground chicken breast
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 C fresh spinach, finely chopped
• 1 slice firm white bread (like Pepperidge Farm), made into fine crumbs - I used Whole Foods Light White bread to make this gluten free
• 3/4 C feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 1/2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 t dried oregano
• 2 t Jane's Crazy Mixed Up salt (or other seasoned salt)
• lots of freshly ground black pepper

Mix all together well, but lightly. Form into 6 flat patties. Refrigerate at least an hour before inserting skewers - or skip the skewers and just make burgers. Grill until cooked thoroughly - no pink chicken, please!

Serve with your favorite grilled veggies - I served zucchini, red onions, red and yellow peppers. And tzatziki!

Tzatziki

• 1 seedless English cucumber, grated - don't peel an English cucumber, the color in the tzatziki is gorgeous! (if you use regular cucumbers, peel them because the ones from the grocery store are usually waxed)
• 2 C plain, low fat yogurt (I use Fage 0% Greek yogurt)
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt, to taste
• lots of fresh ground black pepper
• 1 t fresh mint leaves, finely minced
• 1 small clove garlic, minced

Drain the liquid from the grated cucumber, then mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Chill until serving time.

NOTE: I usually buy the yogurt in quart sized containers and use the whole container to make a double batch of tzatziki. Nighttime snack attacks become healthy and low cal...as long as you're not dipping potato chips into it!

Artichoke, Mushroom, Chicken, Red Pepper & Feta Pasta Bake

Idea #372 under "400 Uses For A Rotisserie Chicken." Okay, I made that up. I haven't begun to get that far in my list of things to do with a rotisserie chicken...although, if my memory were sharp enough, it might be darn close!

This one is actually a Quickie, because the definition of a rotisserie chicken is practically instant dinner...the first night when you bring it home for a quick dinner and the multiple iterations of the leftovers, too.

Fortunately, I happened to have a few roasted red peppers from the weekend's grilled veggies and some extra baby portobellos, too. If you don't have grilled or roasted red peppers on hand or fresh mushrooms, canned and jarred is just fine. In fact, it would be even speedier. 

Once all the veggies were cooked and everything was warmed through, I simply mixed the veggies with cooked pasta, crumbled some feta in too, seasoned everything well and poured it all in the casserole dish. Into the oven for a spin and BOOM! Dinner. 

This one is easy and ready to delight the family in the blink of an eye. Okay, I made that part up, too. Not quite a blink of an eye, but pretty darned fast!

Artichoke, Mushroom, Chicken, Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Pasta Bake

• 1/2 pound penne pasta, cooked & drained (use gluten-free pasta to make this GF)
• 2 C rotisserie chicken breast, torn into large pieces
• 1 T butter
• 1T olive oil
• 12 medium-large baby portobello mushrooms, stems removed & discarded, caps sliced 1/2" thick
• 1 C roasted red peppers, jarred is fine - cut into 1" squares
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 12 oz jar marinated artichokes, drained (I REALLY like the tang of the artichokes with the creaminess of the cheese!)
• 1 T butter
• 1 t dried oregano
• salt & pepper to taste
• 6 oz feta, broken into large crumbles
• Pecorino Romano cheese, just a little freshly shredded to finish the dish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a shallow casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a skillet, melt butter and olive oil. Add sliced mushrooms and garlic; cook until mushrooms begin to wilt down. Add the red peppers and drained artichokes to the skillet and mix well. Let everything warm before adding the chicken to the skillet, too. 

In a large bowl, mix cooked pasta and the contents of the skillet. Add the additional tablespoon of butter, the oregano, salt & pepper and feta. Mix gently and thoroughly. Pour into prepared casserole dish.

Bake for 30 minutes, grate a little pecorino romano over the top and bake another 15 minutes until the grated cheese is melted. Serve with a green salad.

NOTE: One half of the full chicken breast made 2 C...those Costco rotisserie chickens are HUGE! We'd already enjoyed the thighs and wings the first night, just used half of the breast meat for this casserole...you know what that means, don't you? Chicken salad for lunch tomorrow! Mmmmm.

Also, I kept the veggie and chicken pieces large because penne is a larger pasta. If you choose to use a smaller pasta, feel free to cut the chicken and veggies smaller. Proportion!

Garlicky Spinach, Feta, Tomato & Eggplant Stuffed Baby Eggplants

Dinner inspiration can...and definitely is...found everywhere. A walk through downtown might bring heavenly scents of garlic wafting on the breeze from open restaurant doors. My brain says, "Go home, woman, and make garlic butter shrimp!"

A stroll through the Strip along sidewalk displays of vibrant veggies has me craving stir frys of sweet red and yellow peppers, crunchy, candy-like bright green sugar snap peas and creamy white cauliflower to be heaped atop rice noodles found in one of a myriad of Asian shops we pass.

The Mediterranean blue tiled storefront of Penn Avenue Fish Company lures me in with its always-kept promise of fresh fish, both finny and shelled. I find it's always best to go looking for what might catch my fancy instead of having a plan. An open mind for what's new or on sale is requisite for a creative, spur-of-the-moment evening's repast. (Hmmmm...maybe some gorgeous fresh-not-frozen wild caught Georgia shrimp for that garlic butter shrimp?!)

And then there's Costco. Costco's inspirational? Sure is! If you've ever ventured into the Siberian cold of the veggie section, you know what I mean.

Lately, my favorite warehouse store seems to be the reigning champion of small veggies. Bags of mixed, tiny and colorful peppers, adorable, teeny weeny, finger-long cucumbers, giant containers of the smallest baby (preemie?) spinach around. Head-high stacked boxes of Brussels sprouts are the most minuscule green orbs I've found anywhere, ironically in the biggest bags to boot. Heads of Romaine or mixed red and green heads of lettuce no longer than 4 inches to make perfect lettuce wraps!

What did I find on my latest tour-de-Costco? Deep, deep purple...almost black...baby eggplants. Bought 'em, stuffed 'em, baked 'em, devoured 'em, loved 'em. Here's the recipe.

Baked and ready to enjoy. The top pic is "before"!

Garlicky Spinach, Feta, Tomato & Eggplant 

Stuffed Baby Eggplants 

• Olive oil spray 
• 1 T olive oil 
• 3 mini eggplants, cap cut off, sliced in half lengthwise, pulp removed leaving a 1/4" shell - chop the pulp roughly 
• 4 large cloves of garlic, chopped roughly 
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped 
• 1 1/2 cups spinach, left whole if it's baby (or preemie) spinach, otherwise chop roughly 
• 3/4 t dried oregano 
• 4 small tomatoes, chopped (or 12 cherry tomatoes) 
• 1 t salt 
• 2 oz crumbled feta 

Set the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a shallow baking dish with olive oil and set the hollowed out eggplant halves in the dish cut side up. Spray the eggplant edges with olive oil

In a skillet over medium heat, heat 1 T olive oil and add chopped eggplant, onion and garlic. Saute until they start to wilt, but don't let the garlic burn. Add spinach, oregano, chopped tomatoes and salt. Stir until the spinach wilts. Remove from heat and stir in feta.

Spoon the spinach mixture into the eggplant shells. Cover the dish with foil and bake until the eggplants are soft, but not falling apart. Maybe 45 minutes or so. Remove the foil and brown slightly. Serve with chicken, steak, lamb (really nice!) or whatever protein strikes your fancy!

RATATOUILLE

We LOVE ratatouille around here!  No, I don’t mean the adorable (and gifted!) cartoon rat who displays amazing and enviable (?) culinary skills, although he is pretty darn cute.  I mean the French vegetable dish of tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onions, garlic, basil and olive oil.  Oooo la la!  Summer isn't summer without a couple of big batches throughout the season.  


This beautiful veggie side dish is so versatile and adaptable, too.  I like it cold as a snack - don't turn up your nose, try it and you'll be sneaking spoonfuls from the fridge, too.  It's delicious tucked into omelets for a quick brunch or even for dinner.  It makes a really good bruschetta...friends and sangria on the deck with some good crusty bread spread with room temp ratatouille makes for a delightful way to spend a warm summer evening.  Trust me...we've done it!

What's my very favorite way of using leftover ratatouille?  Pizza.  Slather a store-bought pizza crust with cold ratatouille, sprinkle with a little feta over the top, a few minutes in the oven....dinner's on!

The kids and I enjoy it so much, we've been known to make ratatouille just so we can have the pizza later in the week.  It freezes well, too, so tuck some into the freezer for cold winter evenings that need a little reminder of warm weather to come.  Here's the recipe!

Ratatouille

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 large eggplants, peeled and cubed
• 2 green peppers, seeded, sliced thinly & cut into 2" pieces
• 3 small zucchini, sliced thin
• 6 large red ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded & chopped
• salt and pepper
• a good handful of fresh basil, chopped finely
• seasoned salt, Crazy salt, of course

Heat oil in a large electric skillet and saute onion and garlic until soft.  Add green peppers, stir well and cook 5 minutes. 

Add eggplant and cook until soft.  Add rest of ingredients.  Cook covered about 45 minutes or until nicely melded.

NOTE: This makes a lot!  Make the whole recipe so you have lots leftover to freeze and to make PIZZA!  

 

 


That Ratatouille Pizza I rhapsodized over?  Here's how you do it!

Ratatouille Pizza

• leftover ratatouille
• store-bought pizza crust
• feta cheese

Spread the ratatouille on the crust and crumble feta over the top.  Bake according to the pizza crust directions.

Some "recipe" huh?  Enjoy! 

Greek Layered Spinach, Feta & Artichoke Salad

It’s that time of year when we're going to, and cooking for, lots of parties, picnics and showers.  We're celebrating holidays, birthdays, beautiful weather and being outside, new babies and new love that has blossomed into the commitment of a wedding.  Our celebrations run the gamut...we just LOVE parties, don't we?  Well, I do.

Do you wrack your brains for what to make to take?  It's not always an easy decision, is it...especially when you want to fancy it up a little bit for a shower. I made this colorful and delicious salad for Janelle's bridal shower at work tomorrow.  

A layered salad makes such a beautiful presentation.  They’re SO pretty in a clear glass bowl!  We all know that you eat with your eyes first.  That makes this gorgeous salad a feast for the eyes and for the tastebuds!

Greek Layered Spinach, Feta & Artichoke Salad

• 2 large chicken breast halves, shredded (Buy them at the deli counter - if you're lucky, you can just buy the breasts.  Otherwise, buy a whole rotisserie chicken, use the breasts and use the rest for something else.)
• 3/4 English cucumber, diced small
• 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 teaspoon Jane's Crazy Salt

• 2 cans garbanzo beans, drained
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 large lemons, juiced
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Jane's Crazy Salt

• 5 ounces fresh spinach, preferably baby spinach, torn - 1 bag
• 1 cup roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped fine
• 12 ounces marinated artichoke hearts, reserve juice
• red pepper flakes, to taste
• 3/4 cup kalamata olives, seeded and quartered
• 6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

A day or two ahead, mix the garbanzo beans (chickpeas) with the lemon juice and minced garlic, olive oil & Jane's crazy salt in a tall, narrow container.  Using a fork, stab the beans, stir, stab the beans, stir; cover & store in fridge.  Shake the container occasionally to marinate well.  Don't make the beans mooshy, just get some nice holes in them.  It lets the marinade permeate & gives the beans a hummus-y flavor!
 
The night before you're going to serve this, sprinkle Crazy Salt on diced cucumbers and let drain in a strainer over a bowl while you layer the salad.
 
In a glass bowl, put the spinach in the bottom, scatter the garbanzo beans and all the marinade next.  Next do a layer of the roasted red peppers, then chicken and sprinkle with basil and a little Crtazy Salt. 
 
Next do an even layer of the artichokes, cutting to bite-size, if necessary.  Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.  Scatter with the kalamata olives - be SURE you get all the pits out!  Next crumble the feta over all.
 
Now drain the cucumbers well, pressing them against the sides of the strainer.  Mix the cukes and the tomatoes, sprinkle with a little Crazy Salt, pour the reserved artichoke liquid over all, mix and scatter the mixture over the salad.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving time.
 
The juices and marinades form the dressing.  Serve with tongs, digging down deep through the layers to get a little of everything in every serving.  Nice with some pita!

Spinach & Feta Twice-Baked Stuffed Potatoes

Yesterday was Mark’s birthday…he’s finally as old as I am!  Are you a cougar if you’re nine months older than your husband?  Hmmmmm…..

For every single birthday dinner I can remember, Mark has requested steak for dinner.  He isn’t hard to please!  His choice this year was a big ol’ T-Bone.  He’s so simple when it comes to special dinners, just give him meat….preferably beef…preferably a steak…preferably a BIG ASS STEAK!  That’s exactly what he got. 

His choice of sides?  If you go to the trouble of making a twice baked potato, he gets REALLY happy!  So I came up with a new version for him with spinach and feta and green onions…kind of a Greek take on the traditional stuffed potato....and he loved it!  What else to complete the meal?  Crisp grilled fresh asparagus with just a drizzle of lemon juice.  

Yet another birthday gone by, celebrated in his very favorite way.  He is happy as he can possibly be....okay, without winning the lottery. 

Whoops!  Except I forgot to mention that NO birthday dinner for Mark is complete without a BEER!  Happy Birthday, Marky-pooh!

Spinach & Feta Twice-Baked Stuffed Potatoes

Makes 4

• 4 baking potatoes, baked
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, dry, dry!
• 4 green onions, sliced thinly, well into the green
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste - don't be stingy
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• Jane's Crazy Salt, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

 Cut a thin slice off the top off each potato, lengthwise.  Carefully scoop out the potato, leaving an 1/8" edge, into a bowl.  Fluff the potato in the bowl and break up well.  Add DRY spinach and onions - fluff again.
 

Add the cream, sour cream feta and seasonings.  Mix well and spoon back into shells.* 
 

Bake at 400 degrees until the tops are golden.

*There will be more filling than you can fit into the shells - put what's left into small buttered ramekins for another meal.

Lemony Greek Potato Salad with Feta and Kalamata Olives

Just what was that sexy side dish alongside the Spatchcocked Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken in the last Dinner Plan-it post?  Why it was a Greek Potato Salad loaded with chunks of creamy, salty feta, bejeweled with beautiful black kalamata olives, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, brightened with fresh lemon juice and a dash of perky red wine vinegar, mellowed out with a smooth garlic paste.  

This is one nice alternative to traditional potato salad that's NOT mayo based!  

Here's the recipe:

Lemony Greek Potato Salad with Feta and Kalamata Olives

• 3 pounds red potatoes, small ones, halved and sliced crosswise
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, slivered
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled*
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

Cook potatoes with the unpeeled garlic until tender.  Cube the potatoes, set the garlic aside.  Squeeze the garlic from the skins and mash with a fork; set aside.  Combine potatoes with olives and feta in a large bowl. 
 

Mix garlic paste with oregano, vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil; whisk. 
 

Toss potato mixture with the dressing, parsley, salt and pepper.

*Did you notice the technique for making the garlic paste?  When you don't have time to roast garlic, this is an easy way to mellow out raw garlic...not as roasty toasty, but works very well in this and other recipes!

Lamburger Sliders with Spinach & Feta

Spring.  Warm breezes, sunshine, the smell of freshly cut grass drifting across the yard, perky daffodils, swaying tulips and lamb.  Some of my favorite springtime delights, for sure.  The bouquet of lamb grilling on the barbecue grill?  That one may trump all the other spring sensory experiences hands down!

Lamb is one of those meats we serve rarely in this house - I don't mean "rare" as in medium or well-done, I mean not often.  Why?  It's expensive!  To buy a leg of lamb for just the two of us seems pretty foolish...and the kids don't care for it so just the two of us it is.  But lamb burgers fit the bill as far as cost AND not having to eat it for the entire next week in order to finish it up.

Sweet, slightly gamey ground lamb mixed with garlic, spinach and feta, grilled to perfection, tucked into warm pita and dipped into cool and refreshing tzatziki is a lovely meal to enjoy on a warm spring evening on the deck!

Lamburger Sliders with Spinach & Feta

Serves 2

• 3/4 pound ground lamb
• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced finely
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 2 pita bread rounds - Gluten-free to make these GF (see note)
• spinach
• red onion, sliced thinly

    

Mix lamb, chopped spinach, garlic, feta, salt and pepper thoroughly, but lightly.  Form into 4 patties.
 

Grill over flames to get that gorgeous carmelization!
 

Put two sliders into a pita with red onion and fresh spinach.  Serve with tzatziki on the side for dipping!

NOTE:  Soergel's in Wexford carries Heaven Mills gluten-free pita that is out of this world!  If you can't get to Soergel's, be sure to look for it wherever you buy your GF products.  Eden's in Mt. Lebanon carries it, too.    


NOTE 2:  See tzatziki recipe below.
   

Springtime Asparagus lasagna

For those of you who were wondering what the pasta dish in the foreground of yesterday's Sweet Tea Applewood Smoked Chicken Thighs was, here's both the answer AND the recipe...Springtime Asparagus Lasagna! 

Unfortunately, I don't recall when I first made this or where the original recipe came from to credit its creator.  Suffice it to say, it was long and many permutations ago.  Whoever, wherever you are, please know I will be forever grateful for my favorite non-traditional lasagna recipe.  It is the epitome of spring and makes a nice side dish to an Easter ham!

Springtime Asparagus Lasagna

• 2 pounds asparagus, ends snapped off
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 lasagna noodles, no boil variety, or equivalent (gluten-free to make this GF)
• 2 T. butter
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (gluten-free to make this GF)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 lemon, zest only
• salt, to taste
• 1 cup parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated, and extra for the top
• 1 cup heavy cream

Cut tips from asparagus spears; set aside separately.  Cut the remaining bottoms diagonally into 1/2" pieces; cook until tender-crisp and plunge into ice water. Drain and set aside.

Prepare the lasagna sheets according to package directions and drain.  Set aside.
 
Melt butter in a saucepan, add cornstarch and cook stirring over low heat until it begins to thicken.  Add broth and continue whisking until smooth.  Stir in feta, zest and salt; stir until sauce is smooth.  It's okay if the feta doesn't incorporate completely...nobody will ever know in the finished dish.

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9" X 9" pan.  

Drain pasta well.  Make 1 layer of noodles - cut to size, if you need to.  Spread with 1/4 of the sauce.  Top with 1/4th the reserved asparagus bottoms and sprinkle with 1/3 cup parm.  Continue layering, ending with a layer of noodles.

In a bowl, beat cream with just a pinch of salt to soft peaks.  Arrange the asparagus tips on top of the lasagna and gently put the whipped cream over the top.  Evenly scatter the remaining parm over the top.

Bake at 400  for 30-40 minutes or until golden and bubbling.  Let it cool for a few minutes before cutting.

Roasted Beet and Feta Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette

My Roasted Beet and Feta Salad

Beets are sexy!  Deep, lush red in color, velvety in texture and sweet as honey...mmmmm.  They're on every menu in every high-end restaurant these days!  Have you noticed? 

I admit it, I've not always been a fan - at one time beets seemed to be relegated to the salad bar at an old peoples' joint - right alongside applesauce, cottage cheese and canned pineapple.  Canned beets just don't cut it, but roasted FRESH beets are a revelation!  There's a reason they've become the hot "new" vegetable.  They are delicious!!!!

Mieke, Tall Matt and I had dinner recently at Copper, overlooking the links at Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing, MI.  What a beautiful evening with family accompanied by beautiful food, too.  Mieke enjoyed a grilled pork porterhouse with mango relish - yum.  My entree was the whole rainbow trout stuffed with Boursin, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach - you know I was in heaven.  And Matt went light with a delicious linguine and blackened chicken, andouille and peppers...nice.  

The hit of the evening? My beet salad with feta and horseradish!  It made me swoon it was so good.  I vowed to recreate that one when I got home....well, recreate the flavors, not the presentation.  The presentation at Copper, while gorgeous(!), is beyond my everyday needs.  I'd rather spend the my time making this salad frequently instead of creating the perfect presentation with layers of thinly sliced cucumber.  While the cucumber was nice, it was unnecessary.  It was the beautifully dressed beets that I was after.

Copper's Beet Salad

Last night the long-lusted-after beet salad recreation appeared on our dinner table with some lemon and garlic grilled pork chops.  My version of Beet Salad with Feta was as good as Copper's!!!  The hubby and I dined well last night - maybe not overlooking the golf course, but just as happily.

   

Roasted Beet and Feta Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette

• 3 large beets
• 2 tablespoons feta cheese, small crumbles

• 1 1/2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, a good amount

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Gently scrub and trim beets to 2" of stems; dry.  (Save the greens!  They make a great side dish on their own when braised with a little sugar and vinegar!)  Lightly oil outside of beets with olive oil and place in an oven-proof dish.  Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, cover dish with foil and roast beets until a knife slides in easily.  Remove from oven and cool.

While the beets are roasting, put the vinaigrette together: mix well the horseradish, vinegar, mustard, olive oil, salt & pepper.  Whisk until well emulsified.  Set aside.
 
Slip the skins off the cooled beets.  Grate the beets coarsely.  Pour about half the vinaigrette over and gently combine.  Mix in the feta, gently mix again.
 
Serve the additional vinaigrette on the side.