Chicken Souvlaki & Greek Lemon Rice

I like to clip the recipes out of the food magazines I subscribe to and put them into a neat, little pile. When it’s time to come up with a RandomRecipe for the week’s meal, I often pick through the pile looking for something that meets our needs for the week. (By this I mean it uses ingredients already in stock or on the list to buy and helps us meet the other menu requirements, like a soup or a beef recipe.)

One of the recipes I picked out a little while ago was for Chicken Souvlaki Skewers. It was really fast and easy, which made it an excellent candidate for having on one of my class-nights where I’d get home at some random time between 630p and 830p. (Planning meals around my tax class was interesting to say the least.) While I was at class, my husband decided to look for a Greek-style rice to accompany it, which he found in the The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook.

All I can say is, “Wow!” It was fantastic and oh-so-simple. This is definitely going into the repeat-meal category for when we need a quick and tasty meal.

I wish I’d taken a picture, but I was starving and it was good and well… it was gone. Maybe next time!

Chicken Souvlaki

Serves 2

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced or chunked, as you like

3 tbsp lemon juice

3 sprigs of fresh thyme or about 1/2 tsp dried

4 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 zucchini, chunked (optional)

bamboo skewers, soaked

Stir together lemon juice through olive oil in a bag or flat dish. Add chicken and coat well. (If using a bag, press all of the air out and seal tightly.) Refrigerate and let marinate for at least 30 minutes — but it will be better if you wait a few hours.

If you’re grilling outside, make sure the skewers have been soaked for 30 minutes so they don’t catch fire. If you’re using a grill pan or indoor grill (such as the Foreman grill), this step can be safely skipped. Skewer the chicken and zucchini, if using. Grill for 3 – 5 minutes until done.

Greek-style Lemon Rice

Adapted from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook

Serves 2

3/4 cup uncooked basmati or jasmine rice

1 cup chicken broth (2 cups stock if using brown rice)

1/2 cup water (2/3 cups water if using brown rice)

1 medium onion, diced

1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts, chopped

1/2 tsp dried dill

1/2 tsp dried mint

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup crumbled feta (optional)

Combine rice, broth and water in a rice cooker and turn it to Cook. While it cooks, saute onion over medium heat in about a tablespoon of oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in nuts and, stirring constantly, cook until golden brown. In a small dish, stir together spices and lemon juice. When the rice cooker is done, add the onion/nut mixture and lemon juice mixture, stirring and fluffing the cooked rice to combine. Close the cover and keep the cooker on the Keep Warm setting for about 5 – 10 minutes.

Serve, topping with crumbled feta if desired.

Notes:

1. The zucchini addition came from a recipe for souvlaki my husband looked up on MyRecipes.com. They’d alternated chicken with zucchini on the skewers after marinating both — it sounded delicious but we didn’t have any in the house.

2. You can use any kind of rice, but if it’s brown, you’ll need to use the second set of liquid measurements provided and allow more time for it to cook.