Come back!

So, when I moved into my house about a year and a half ago, I was overjoyed to find a Mad Greek restaurant nearby. I love Greek food! Then, to my disappointment, it closed down. Nooooooo! Come back! I mean, even my boys would eat it! My picky, picky boys! They loved the chicken souvlaki, the lemon rice, and the fries (seriously, don't Greek restaurants have the best fries?).

There is still an Astro Burger nearby...but I miss my Mad Greek.

When my Greek cravings were too strong recently, I whipped up this dinner one night.

Chicken Gyros

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (in hindsight, I think this would have worked better cut into strips, but it would work either way)
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
2 teaspoons dried oregano

Tzatziki:


1/2 cucumber, finely chopped
1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or mint
Salt and pepper, to taste

Pitas:

12 frozen Rhodes dough rolls, thawed and risen

Directions:

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add chicken, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until golden brown and cooked through.

In a medium bowl, make tzatziki. Combine chopped cucumber, yogurt, parsley or mint, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice; season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the pitas, divide the dough into 4-6 portions. Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Stretch out each portion of dough (like you would for a small pizza crust). Place the dough onto the skillet (do not use oil or nonstick cooking spray). Cook until lightly browned, and then turn over onto the other side; about 1 to 2 minutes per side.

Serve the chicken inside each pita. Top with tzatziki and sliced tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onions, if desired.

Source: I used this recipe (posted previously on our blog) as inspiration.

Greek Festival Lemon Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:

1/4 lb. butter
2 cups uncooked rice
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
5 cups hot chicken broth
salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Heat butter in a heavy skillet. When it is hot, add the rice and, stirring constantly, sauce over medium heat until transparent, but not brown.

Add the lemon juice, chicken broth, and salt.

Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and let pilaf stand uncovered for 5 minutes before serving.

Source: I found this on food.com. You can find it here.

Notes: This isn't a fluffy rice pilaf, it is more of a sticky rice. It is so good. It is spot on with the Greek rice that you can get in a Greek restaurant. The recipe provides this note: "Every September, Salt Lake has an amazing Greek Festival. Back in 2001 I got a pamphlet of Greek recipes from the festival. This rice pilaf is very similar to the rice pilaf served at my favorite Greek restaurant. Opa!" This really does taste like the rice from the Greek festival. Good stuff!

The only change I made was to use half of the butter that the recipe called for. It was still fantastic.