Greek Isles Panini

Like I said yesterday, we had some left over greek chicken, feta cheese, & tzatziki sauce, so we made some greek paninis. I mean you can't really get more greek than marinated chicken, feta, tzatziki, roasted red pepper, red onions, and hummus. The only thing they we chose to leave out was olives, and well that's because we just hate olives. So feel free to add those if you like them. I also decided to put provolone on the sandwich because feta just doesn't melt the way you want it on a grilled cheese. So I figured I would add a mild cheese to achieve that "goo" factor. The paninis were really good, and it's so nice when you can repurpose a dinner into a lunch the next day, so that no ingredients go to waste.

Look at that Melty Cheese 

Lots of Crunchy Veggies 

Greek Isles Panini

For the Panini:

2 Slices of Rustic Bread

2T Olive Oil

4T Homemade Tzatziki

¼C Crumbled Feta

2 Marinated Greek Chicken Thighs, Sliced Thinly & Warmed Slightly

2T Greek Hummus

1 Marinated Roasted Red Pepper, Split in Half

4 Red Onion Rings

2 Slices of Provolone

Directions:

1. Heat up your Panini press, electric grill, or a skillet to high heat.

2. To Assemble the Sandwich: Spread 2T of the homemade tzatzki sauce on each slice of bread, then designate one slice of bread to be the bottom piece. Sprinkle the crumbled feta on top of the bottom slice of bread, then layer on the sliced Greek Chicken. Slather with the hummus and top with the red peppers & red onions. Lay the slices of provolone on top of the onions (this will help keep all of the fillings from falling out). Top with the other slice of bread and brush on 1T of olive oil on each outside of the bread slices.

3. Grill or fry the sandwich for 2-3 minutes on each side until the bread is perfectly golden brown and extremely crunchy, while also making sure that all of the ingredients inside are warmed thoroughly and the cheeses are melted.

4. Cut into halves and serve immediately.

Marinated Greek Chicken with Maple Glazed Rainbow Carrots & Roasted Garlic Cous Cous

Hi everyone, I've been studying my ass off lately, so I haven't been able to post the two recipes I made the last couple days. Like I have said numerous times before, I buy a lot of chicken thighs, mainly because they are always on sale and that they come in big packs so that I can separate them into two different dinners. And chicken thighs are great marinated, so I can put them into ziploc bags and marinate them days in advance, so I have a dinner pretty much ready in the refrigerator. This week I decided to do Marinated Greek Chicken. The marinade consists of lemon, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and parsley. It just has a fresh, healthy taste to it. I also served it with a homemade tzatziki sauce because the chicken is very lightly marinated, so the tzatziki adds a nice creaminess & punch of flavor. I didn't really have specific recipes for the side dishes, I just kind of added a little bit of this and a little bit of that (like most cooks do), but I'll tell you what I did with them if you would like to make that as well. While I was at the Farmer's Market, I saw a bunch of beautiful baby rainbow carrots, so I decided to just bake them in the oven with some olive oil, maple syrup, honey, garlic, fleur de sel, and fresh parsley. For the cous cous, I just roasted a head of garlic and mashed it into a paste (with some sea salt) and folded it in along with some green onions & chopped parsley. Also, I had some chicken left over, so I ended up making a panini with it yesterday for lunch, so I'll be posting that either later on today or tomorrow. I hope everyone is having a great day!

Marinated Greek Chicken with Tzatziki Sauce, Maple Glazed Rainbow Carrots & Roasted Garlic Cous Cous

For the Marinade:

4 Chicken Thighs, Boneless & Skinless

4T Olive Oil

1 Lemon, Juiced & Zested

1T Red Wine Vinegar

2t Honey

1t Garlic, Minced

1t Dried Oregano

1t Parsley, Chopped (plus more for garnishing)

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Crumbled Feta, For Garnish

For the Tzatziki Sauce:

2C Greek Yogurt, Strained for 2-3 hours

2 Cucumbers, Peeled & Seeded & Diced

2T Olive Oil

2T Lemon Juice

1T Fresh Dill, Chopped

1T Garlic

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Directions: 
1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients of the marinade. Place the chicken thighs in a large ziploc bag and pour the marinade over the chicken. Let them marinate for at least 4 hours, but preferably over night.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat some olive oil to medium-high heat in a large skillet (or spray a George Foreman Grill with Pam, and just grill the chicken, to be a little healthier). Cook the chicken until each side is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Take the chicken thighs out of the skillet and place them in a baking dish. Pour the marinade into the hot skillet and cook it over high heat until the mixture comes to a boil (about 2 minutes). Pour the boiled marinade over the chicken and bake the thighs in the oven for 8-10 minutes. 
3. To make the Tzatziki, combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse it until completely combined. Refrigerate until you're ready to use it. 
4.Serve the chicken with some of the crumbled feta & tzatziki sauce on top and garnish with fresh chopped parsley. 

source: mediterranean chicken. greek chicken thighs. 


Check out Everday Sisters Blog for this recipe!