Chicken Gyros

A little while ago, my friend Bec made these for dinner.

They were so good and fresh and summery tasting.

Jim and Clara totally loved them too and kept asking me to make them.

Bec made her chicken in a slow-cooker with amazing results.

(Those of you with a slow-cooker try it out. Here's the recipe.)

Because I don't have a slow-cooker, I used this very similar oven baked recipe.

My kids eat these as more of a salad on their plate with the pita on the side.

I'm not sure if this looks labour intensive, but it's really not.

It comes together really quickly.

You could even marinate the chicken all day in the fridge, do all the toppings ahead of time and just cook the chicken at supper time.

Chicken Gyros

Recipe found here

Serves 4-6

2 teaspoons garlic, minced 

Juice of 1 lemon, I also added some of the zest

2 teaspoons apple cider or red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 heaping tablespoons greek yogurt 

1 tablespoon dried oregano

salt and pepper

4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves

Combine all of the above ingredients except for the chicken in a baking dish, and whisk together to make a marinade. 

Add in chicken, and turn to coat. Cover, and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to marinate.

Cook the chicken in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the toppings and make the tzatziki sauce.

1 tomato, diced

1/2 cucumber, diced

8-10 greek pita or pita pockets

crumbled feta

lettuce or spinach

red onion slices and chopped parsley, optional

tzatziki sauce, recipe below

Tzatziki Sauce

16 ounces Greek yogurt

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and very finely diced

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic, I skipped the garlic

1 teaspoon apple cider or white wine vinegar

Salt, pepper, and fresh lemon juice to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until dinner.

Chop the cooked chicken into large chunks or strips.

Set out bowls with the toppings.

Heat up the pitas and serve.

Create gyros to your liking.

**I'm adding a few pictures of Jimmy eating his Gyro...and getting increasingly annoyed that I'm photographing him in his work clothes.

I love you, Jimmy.

Teriyaki Salmon with Sesame Noodles

My kids love salmon.

However, I need to be very creative to get Jim to eat it.

He loves this teriyaki salmon.

The fishiness of the salmon seems to be completely cut by the sour rice vinegar and the sweet apple juice.

Your run of the mill bottled teriyaki sauce is probably all sugar.

What I love about this is that it's not sickeningly sweet.

I serve it with simple sesame noodles mixed with carrot, green onion and cucumber.

Teriyaki Salmon with Sesame Noodles

(Fish is from: Not Your Mother's Weeknight Cooking/

the noodles are adapted from thekitchn.com)

Salmon

One 2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut in pieces

2 garlic cloves

1 can frozen sugar-free apple juice concentrate (I use NoName)

1/2 C low sodium soy sauce or shoyu sauce

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

1/2 C chopped green onion

4 -6 1 inch thick salmon filets

Noodles

2 bundles soba noodles

2-3 carrots cut into match sticks (you could grate it too, just dont bother blanching if you do)

1/2 cucumber, in thin rounds or long ribbons

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 Tbsp honey (optional)

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

a few dashes hot sauce

For the fish:

Place fish in a 9x13inch baking dish.

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor, whiz until garlic and ginger are very finely chopped.

Add apple juice concentrate, soy and vinegar. Whiz again.

Stir in onion.

Pour over fish. Cover with plastic and refrigerate 30mins.

Bake fish 10-15 minutes or until fish is firm.

For the noodles:

Boil noodles 6 minutes and then drain and rinse with cold water.

Pour noodles into a large bowl.

Blanch carrots in a little boiling water for 1 minute. Add to noodles with cucumber and onion.

In a small bowl, whisk together sesame oil, vinegar, honey, soy and hot sauce.

Pour over noodles, cover with plastic and reserve until fish is ready.

Room temperature noodles are fine.

Serve Noodles topped with fish, teriyaki sauce and a few more bits of green onion.

(Dad, avert your eyes from Jimmy's hand...seriously, it's for your own good...)

Chicken Pita Sandwich with Cucumber Yogurt

Warm, herb flecked, chicken bites layered in a pita with slices of feta and tomato and topped with cucumber-chive yogurt is the perfect dinner on a very hot, late spring night.

We had some hot weather here this past week. Not wanting to turn the oven on, an abundance of fresh herbs in the garden and being inspired by Everyday Food's Chicken Koftas, I made these lovely little sandwiches.

I loaded the chicken up with chives and parsley and seasoned them with salt, pepper and cumin but left the rest of the toppings pretty basic.

This came together so quickly. With some sparkling lime water, it was a cool, refreshing way to end a hot spring day.

Chicken Pita Sandwich with Cucumber Yogurt

(Everyday Food, Martha Stewart June 2011)

1 1/2 lbs ground chicken

1/4 C minced chives

1/3 C minced parsley

3/4 tsp cumin

salt and pepper

1/2 cucumber, seeded and diced small

1/2 C plain yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp veg or canola oil

1-2 medium tomatoes, in thin wedges

feta, sliced or crumbled

pitas

fresh chives or mint for serving

In a large bowl mix together chicken, chives, parsley, cumin, salt and pepper. Form into 8 oval and slightly flattened patties.

In a small bowl, toss together cucumber, yogurt, salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Cook patties until brown and cooked through.

Divide patties among pitas.

Top with tomatoes, feta, yogurt sauce and herbs.

Fold in half and serve.