Bird on a Wire
Janet and Greta Podleski share their delicious recipe for Greek chicken skewers with cucumber-dill sauce. Don't be a slowpoke! The quicker you thread these zesty, marinated chicken pieces onto the wire, the faster your taste buds will be knocked "askewer."
Marinade
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp liquid honey
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp each minced fresh oregano leaves and minced fresh mint leaves
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs/680 g), cut into one-inch chunks
Cucumber-Dill Sauce
1 cup low-fat, plain yogurt
1 cup peeled, seeded and diced English cucumber
1 tbsp minced fresh dill or minced fresh mint leaves
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 12-inch metal skewers
To make a grilled salad using this recipe, alternately thread marinated chicken pieces and chunks of green bell pepper and red onions onto six metal skewers. Then, thread only cherry tomatoes onto two more metal skewers. Cook as directed in recipe, but remove the tomato skewers halfway through cooking time (they don't take long to heat up). To serve, remove cihcken, vegetables, and tomatoes from skewers and place in a serving bowl. Top with crumbled, light feta cheese, freshly ground black pepper, and a dollop of cucumber-dill sauce for a delicious, hot Greek salad.
- Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Place chicken in a large, heavy-duty, resealable plastic bag. Add marinade and seal bag. Turn bag several times to coat chicken with marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour (six hours is perfect).
- While chicken is marinating, prepare Cucumber-Dill Sauce. Combine all sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (Make sure you refrigerate the sauce for at least one hour.)
- Preheat grill to high setting. Thread chicken pieces onto metal skewers and discard marinade. Coat grill with cooking spray or brush lightly with oil. Grill chicken for eight to 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until no longer pink in the centre. do not overcook chicken, or it will be dry.
- Serve hot chicken with cool Cucumber-Dill Sauce. Tastes great with a greek salad and hummus with warm pita wedges.
Makes 4 servings.
Per serving: Calories 258; Total fat 4.8 g; Saturated fat 1.3 g; Protein 43 g; Carbohydrate 9 g; Fibre 0.4 g; Cholesterol 104 mg; Sodium 450 mg
Excerpted from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry by Janet and Greta Podleski
