Summer weather started here a few weeks ago; 90 degree weather and 100% humidity. Oh, and did I mention that the AC isn't working super well either? Out the window goes the idea of cooking with the oven. A small kitchen heats up surprisingly quickly. There goes any idea of casseroles and baked dishes.
At the same time, I found a recipe that called for marinating chicken in Greek yogurt before grilling it. I thought that sounded like a great idea but needed some additional ingredients to make a fabulous and quick meal. Adding spices to the yogurt before adding the chicken and letting the chicken marinate for at least 3 hours gave the chicken a wonderful moistness and great flavor. A few other ingredients that I had on hand made it into a spectacular and quick weeknight meal.
4 thinly sliced chicken breasts
1 small container plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp coriander
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
naan bread
hummus
1 large cucumber, sliced
basil, if desired
pepper
In a container of your choice with a lid, combine the Greek yogurt, spices, garlic and olive oil and mix well. Add the chicken being sure to coat both sides of each chicken breast with the yogurt mixture. All to marinate happily in the fridge for at least three hours.
 |
| Attractive, isn't it? |
(As I lack the delightful outdoor cooking experience known as the charcoal or gas grill, I have to be satisfied using my grill/griddle pan thing.)
Spray grill pan liberally with olive oil spray. Heat according to manufacturer's directions. Scrape excess marinade off each chicken breast. When hot, add chicken and grill until cooked through, flipping chicken breasts once. Depending on the thickness of each chicken breast this should be a few minutes on each side. (I always slice into the thickest part of each piece just to be sure it's cooked through) When cooked through, remove chicken to a plate to cool slightly.
On the same grill pan, add the naan bread and cook until warm and golden brown on each side. Remove naan bread to a plate, spread with a thin layer of hummus. Slice a chicken breast (my husband insists that the chicken breast is sliced from north to south. This does not sound right to me but I can't remember the cooking term for how I sliced the chicken so in lieu of the proper terminology: with the chicken breast sitting on the cutting board horizontally slice from north to south)....on second thought, slice the chicken breast however you would like. This is too much thought for what is supposed to be a quick meal!
Anyway, with the unbelievably important decision of how to slice one's chicken out of the way, crumble feta cheese all over the layer of hummus, lay slices of chicken on top of the cheese and lay the cucumber slices on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and basil if desired. I don't add salt since the feta is already salty.
Serve immediately so it's still warm.
You could add tomatoes to this too. Since I made a tomato salad I didn't add them this time, but I think that would be good. Also, this chicken was so delicious that I marinated a large batch of chicken, grilled it and kept it in the fridge to be used for sandwiches, fajitas and snacking.
