review: chicken souvlaki salad (june 02)

[melis104]

I made this tonight and it was wonderful! also it was really easy. I highly reccomend it.:)

[jjsooner73]

Yum, thanks for the review, this is on my to-try list.

I realized it combines most of the ingredients from a pasta salad I used to make--the veggies, feta, a white wine vinegar/oregano dressing. Plus, one of my chicken standbys is to drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with oregano and garlic and lemon juice, and bake. Yummy! Can't wait to try it!

[AnnaSue]

I made this for dinner tonight too, and my husband and I both really enjoyed it. It was a great dinner for the warm weather we are having here. The only problem I had was that the tomatoes I bought which looked great were really mushy when I cut them. I'd love to try this again with better quality tomatoes. I also found the red pepper to be a bit overpowering, but that may just be me. My husband loved it the way it was.. but then again I've yet to find anything to spicy for him. One thing I noticed though was that once I had it on the table I realized I never used the second teaspoon of garlic that it called for. I'm not sure where that was supposed to be incorporated. I'll have to read through the recipe again, maybe I missed something. I also made the pita wedges from the same page, and we really liked these too. I think I would make them without the salt though next time. This will definitely be a repeat meal for us, and I highly recommend it too!

[JHolcomb]

This was good. I used lemon juice in the dressing instead of white wine vinegar (had half a lemon left over and needed to use it). DH hates tomato and olives, so I had to serve those on the side, which was too bad because those really enhanced the flavor. Served it with grilled pita bread. Very light and yummy.

[Angela]

DF and I weren't impressed by this. I made it by the recipe eventhough I don't like kalamata olives (I ended up picking them out). It was good, but nothing great. I placed it on a bed of lettuce. I have a gyro recipe that uses ground turkey that we like better, so I'll not make this recipe again.

[Gwendolyn]

Mmmmm ... Angela, I would love that gyro recipe you mentioned. DH absolutely loves gyros (and I like them too), but I think I'd like to try them with ground turkey so they're a little healthier than the average gyro.

[greysangel]

I made this last night and both DH and I really enjoyed it!!!

DH isn't a huge salad eater (ie. not at all) so I'm very careful with making salads that are too green :D His only complaint was the cukes were a bit bitter...which they were. The flavors were wonderful and I served this room temperature over the lemon couscous from the back to the best of June. The couscous was a very nice compliment to the souvlaki, but nothing to get excited about on it's own! I certainly don't think it merits being a "best" :D

It's also a great sized portion (2 cups) and 5pts for you WW'ers.

JeAnne

edited to add: I halved the recipe and kept spices the same. I also increased lemon juice to chicken.

[Angela]

Gwyendolyn..

Here you go--today must be your luckly day because the recipe is for ground turkey!! :) I hope you like them, it's one of our favorites!

Turkey Gyros

1 lb. lean ground turkey
1/2 C. onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1/8 tsp. black pepper
4 7" pita bread

Cucumber Mint sauce (to be served on top of gyros)

1 C. non-fat plain yogurt
1 C. non-fat sour cream
1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
1/4 tsp. dried mint
1/2 tsp. salt
dash black pepper

Mix all turkey ingredients in non stick skillet and brown. In bowl combine all Cucumber Mint sauce ingredients, stir. Spoon hot meat mixture over pita and top with sauce.

[Gwendolyn]

Oh Angela, you just made my day. Your recipe for turkey gyros is EXACTLY what I've been looking for! Thanks a million! :D

[Angela]

You're welcome.
I should mention that I'm not a mint fan, so I substitute the mint for an equal amt. of dill.

[dsmith]

angela,

cant wait to try the turkey gyros, i dont like lamb meat so i usually make chicken gyros, but this sounds wonderful. let you know how it turned out. thanks again
Di

[JanetJ]

Question.....I have this on the menu for next week and DBF is very opposed to any meal with the word "salad" in it as a main dish. :rolleyes: How would this be actually stuffed into a pita? Would the consistency of the salad work with that?

[Angela]

Janet...I think it would work great stuffed into a pita. Go for it!

[SusanT]

It would work as a stuffing for pitas.

[ReneeV]

HI Angela,
Thanks for the recipe. IT really fits the bill. DH and I really love gyros, but I never make them because of the fat etc. Can't wait to try these.
The yogurt/cucumber sauce looks authentic and delicious!

Thanks again,

Renée

[Wendy w]

I tried this a couple of days ago and loved it. I was also thinking that it would be good in a pita too. I also added a bit of Penzey's Greek seasoning to the dressing. Yum!

[yorkshirepud]

I planned on putting it inside pitas. I think it would work well. I think this may just go on the menu for next week.

YP

[JanetJ]

I'm glad to hear you all think putting the salad inside the pita will work. Isn't it funny how if I served the salad with a pita he would say I was trying to starve him by feeding him salad for dinner, but if I serve the salad in a pita it's a great meal? The boy is crazy.....

[Peggy C.]

Originally posted by JanetJ
The boy is crazy.....

You said it all right!;)

[valchemist]

Hey Angela -

Your Gyros are excellent!! I don't know what an "authentic" gyro is supposed to taste like, really, but I don't care. These are great.

I love the marjoram/rosemary combo in the meat. And the cucumber sauce is to die for. I used full fat sour cream and nonfat yogurt. I also used dill weed in place of mint. There was a lot of sauce leftover, but it will be good to use as a dip or even as a salad dressing. It is that good.

I served them on grilled flatbread instead of on pita bread.

I will make these over and over. DH loved them too.

thanks!!

Val

[Grace]

Yum, yum. I made this last night and served it in tortillas as a wrap (with some lettuce wrapped up in there too). My DH won't do "just a salad" either :rolleyes: . Whatever. Needless to say, this will be a repeater for us. GREAT way to use up the abundance of tomatoes and cukes in the garden this summer. And it was fast and easy. I love Greek food anyway, so I was happy to find this recipe.

Oh, and one other modification that worked great for me, was I cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces while raw, tossed it with the "marinade" ingredients, and then just cooked it in a skillet until it was done. So much faster and easier (IMO) than grilling or broiling whole breasts and trying to shred them up. Plus the marinade covered more of the chicken surfaces, making each bite a little tastier!

[Peggy]

Angela,

Another big "Thank You" for the Gyro recipe!! I can't wait to try it. Looks wonderful!

Peggy

[Angela]

Val-

I'm so glad that you loved the gyros!! It's always nice to recommend something and have others like it. :)

[funnybone]

I made this on Sat., and we LOVED it!@ I didn't add olives because DH does not like them.

One question, the garlic was to be divided. What did you do with the other half of the garlic, as the recipe never mentioned it. I added it with "the remaining ingredients". Is this what everyone else did. It confused me only because there was garlic powder in this part.

As for serving it on pitas, we said the exact thing while eating it - that it would be great on a pita.:D

[Peggy]

OMG!!! This was sooooo good! I followed Grace's plan and cut the chicken up in small pieces and cooked it over the stove to save time. Delicious!

Peggy

[BethR]

I made this last night with lamb instead of chicken and it was very good -- most definitely a repeater in my and DH's opinion. Since the recipe never mentioned what to do with the second teaspoon of garlic, I kinda forgot about it. Next time I'll add it with everything else. I served this with Turkish bread last night. I love the pita idea -- I'll do it this way next time.

Beth :)

[ellielk]

I made your turkey gyros for dinner last night. That turkey mixture was so delicious. I wasn't sure I'd like the sauce with mint and almost switched to dill but ended up making it as written. Yum!!

[JackieO]

:) Just bumping this up because we had it tonight and I want to get my two cents' in:p . DH and I have been trying to follow the WW "low-fat, high-fiber" program for about a week and I've been getting push-back about not having "real food" for about the same period of time. He raved about this and asked me to make it again...I followed many of the suggestions on this thread, and here are my observations:

1) This is a HUGE amount of food -- 2 cups of the "salad" was way more than I could eat! And I even skimped on some of the ingredients -- only had about 12 oz. of chix breast in the freezer, only used two cucumbers, had four Roma tomatoes. Other than that, I used the recommended amount of ingredients, and totally spaced out the "divided" on the garlic instruction.

2) I sliced up the chicken breast (actually, it was more like "tenders" leftover from several packets of chix breast) into thin, quarter or half-dollar sized slices while they were still slightly frozen last night. Mixed up the "marinade" ingredients and put the whole sheebang into a Ziploc bag to season overnight. Tonight after work, I chopped up the rest of the salad ingredients, made the dressing (and the lemon couscous & pita wedges -- more on that later) and just tossed the hot chicken in, dressed it and served.

3) The lemon couscous isn't worth the bother -- way too much raw onion for me in the combination of the salad and couscous.:mad: And the one task I probably spent the most time on was zesting the lemon rind. Just cooking the couscous in broth would have been a time saver and yielded a better side, IMHO.

4) DH isn't happy with salads for dinner, as noted above. (I've made the Curried Vegetable and ChickPea Salad several times lately and he thinks I'm punishing him!) I asked him if he'd rather have our "Chicken Souvlaki" served over lettuce, inside a pita, or on its own with pita wedges. He opted for the pita wedges, which I just misted with my Misto filled with basil olive oil. I also served a fruit salad (just strawberries, kiwi and blueberries drizzled with lemon juice and honey). DH raved about the dinner (well, except for the couscous, but he ate it). I haven't been this gratified with a meal for a long time....<sigh>.

The souvlaki is going into the rotation, but I'm dropping "salad" from the recipe title!;)

[mb]

we enjoyed this quite a bit, although i think i added too many cucumbers into it. DH and I loved the pita chips, too. my only substitution was using penzey's greek seasoning on the chicken and on the pita chips. i think next time i'll use fewer cukes and make extra dressing.

i'm sure it would be delicious served in a pita. i thought DH might like it that way, so i put the pita on the table, but he just ate salad. i think i'm the only one with a DH who will eat 'just a salad' for dinner!!!! i guess i should count my lucky stars!

marisa :)

[JulieAnn]

We made this for lunch today and served it in whole wheat pitas. My parents were here and both enjoyed it. I used leftover grilled chicken which made for a nice easy lunch. I put it in more feta than called for and I think it needs a little Tabasco sauce:D . It's a great recipe.

[Ralph]

This was terrific! Served it with the pita wedges it recommends and fortunately had fresh pitas, so they were great, too.

The best part about the salad is that after re-reading the recipe before making it, I realized nothing needs to be measured!! Which as many of you know, is my usual modus operandi for cooking!:D I may, however, may have been a little too generous with the cayenne....

[slknight]

This was great. Made it tonight, and DH promptly asked for it to be put "into rotation." We both thought it was delicious. I followed Grace's lead about cutting the chicken into pieces and cooking in a pan. It was really simple. I didn't notice the part about dividing the garlic, so I just put all the garlic in with the chicken. The chicken was great, and I would consider doing just the chicken and serving that with orzo or something.

One thing that I did do was only use half of the sauce. I don't like things really "goopy" so I added some in, mixed it up, and decided that was probably enough. I think that next time I might just serve the sauce on the side.

The pita chips were great too!

[dcornelius]

I made this last night and am looking forward to left overs for lunch!
I also made the pitas but added a bit of parmesean cheese to the tops. I grated it with my microplane which gives you tiny little slivers and it was wonderful! I am trying the bbq/grape salad from June this week as a member of our dinner club highly recommended it as an easy dinner for our oh so hot days here in AZ.

[browneye]

I made the Chicken souvlaki salad last night and we really liked it alot- with modifications! I'm like Ralph, I didn't really measure anything so I probably used more garlic and cayenne and feta. I added lemon juice to the yogurt dressing.

I seasoned the chicken with some of WendyW's roasted garlic and sundried tomato seasoning (Hi Wendy)! It was sooooooo tasty!

This is a definite repeater- a really nice summer salad meal.

:D

[ElinorC]

I made this today and both DH and I loved it. I fixed it "A La Grace" (cooked with spices and made a wrap out of it.)and DH said "We can have this again!" (As if I need his permission! :D :D ) However, I'm adding it to my repeater recipes for later this summer when the fresh veggies are in my garden. Oh yes, I halved the recipe but used all of the spices on the chicken.

[KValley]

I had to revive this thread to throw my .02 in! This recipe is excellent! I did the "Grace thang" ;) and cut up, then cooked the chicken in the spices and made wraps out of the finished product, using whole wheat tortillas. And as Paula and Ralph observed, no measuring necessary- everything was to taste, and it tasted awesome!

My ONLY regret is that I made just one serving- I didn't want it to end and now I don't have leftovers to look forward to. :(

Next time, I think I will sautee the onions- the raw were a bit rough on the system :o

[Lchiles]

Well, It's football season again!! And I'm always looking for great recipes for halftime yummies. Well I tried this Chicken Souvlaki Salad and both myself and my DH thought it was fabulous. I'll be making that one again. Quick question.....do you think you could make it the night before your event??? How would the cucumbers hold up?? Any thoughts are appreciated. Also tried Linda in MO's Crockpot Italian Beef. We also enjoyed that as well. Great for large crowds on football day. Thanks, LaurieC

[krispy spo]

This was a favorite of ours this summer too, and a great way to use up the cucumbers and tomatoes from our garden. I especially loved it with lamb.

IMHO I don't know if I would make it ahead because I think the cucumbers and tomatoes might get watery overnight.

[TLee4]

My only complaint about this dish is that it really gets watery. So I wouldn't actually mix it together until the day you are serving it. (Just do the cutting, etc, but keep the ingredients separate).

Terri

[Lchiles]

Thanks for your responses, I thought they might get too watery or soggy. LaurieC

[Pony]

This is an old post, but I finally made this salad on Friday night!

I found the reviews during a search and saw it listed on some of the favorites lists.

I had the magazine, but had not made it yet. It was SO easy. I broiled the chicken and after reading the reviews about what to do with the 2 tsp of garlic, I just added it to the chicken. So, I used the full 2 tsp on the chicken . I did not add the olives b/c we are not big fans. To me, it was a little spicy, but great. Fiance LOVED it and is having it for lunch today. It does get a little watery, but I didn't add the dressing on the side, I forgot about that recommendation. It was a great summer salad! We had mini whole wheat pitas on the side.

[waltnj]

I made this last night too and it is definately going to be a regular item for me. I loved the dressing, the salad, and the chicken. In fact I plan on making the chicken seasoned the same way tonight. I did make a few adjustments, mainly not being precise with measuring, instead of measuring the lemon juice, I just squeezed a half lemon into the bag with the chicken, I used more garlic (I did put the 2nd tsp in the salad dressing) and more pepper (both red & black). Yum! My fiance loved it too, we both thought it was a great summertime meal.

[tuff2000]

I thought I'd bump up this thread. here in Florida it is super HOT already!So to "refresh" we made the chicken souvlaki salad last night. It was our first time having this absolutely awesome recipe. Why did we wait so long? I roasted a chicken on Sunday, so I used the leftover chicken and tossed everything in a bowl. Tonight we are having the Barbecue Chicken and Grape Salad, also from the June 2002 CL. I cannot get over how good this house smells, I just finished cooking the chicken mixture. This is also our first time making this salad. Overall, these two dishes are just what we need on these super hot days?

[Kathy B]

Would you mind posting the recipe for the Chicken Souvlaki Salad? Just reading through this thread is making me quite anxious to try it, but of course I don't have a copy of CL 2002 laying around. :(

[tbb113]

It was on the website

Chicken Souvlaki Salad

The elements of a classic Greek salad and a chicken souvlaki sandwich combine in this piquant dish. You can also use lamb in place of the chicken.


2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic, divided
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
3 cups cubed peeled cucumber (about 3 cucumbers)
1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped pitted kalamata olives
2 ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/4 cup grated peeled cucumber
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat grill or broiler.
Combine 1 teaspoon garlic and the next 6 ingredients (1 teaspoon garlic through chicken breast) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake to coat. Remove chicken from the bag. Grill or broil chicken 5 minutes on each side or until done. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces.

Combine chicken, cubed cucumber, and the next 4 ingredients (cubed cucumber through tomatoes) in a large bowl. Combine yogurt and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken mixture; toss well.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

CALORIES 259 (28% from fat); FAT 8.2g (satfat 3g, monofat 3.4g, polyfat 1g); PROTEIN 31.8g; CARBOHYDRATE 15.3g; FIBER 2.9g; CHOLESTEROL 79mg; IRON 2mg; SODIUM 679mg; CALCIUM 161mg;
Cooking Light, JUNE 2002

[Kathy B]

Thanks! Hopefully we can give it a try this weekend. :)

[funnybone]

Thanks for bumping this thread up. I love being reminded of recipes I enjoyed in the past. Looks like something to make again soon! :D

[HUNGRY!]

I printed this out when somebody bumped it up over the summer, and just got around to making it last night.

We loved it! Even my husband who is picky (won't eat anything that is "gloppy" or "mushy" so I was worried about the dressing) ate about three servings! Of course, to him, the dressing was ranch- he came up with that one on his own, I didn't lie to him.

I can't wait to make this again during the summer with really great tomatoes!

[Jeanz]

Who says I am a little slow! :D :D I FINALLY got around to making this from my list of "to trys" and it rocks! SO was complaining about the chopping, so I sent him to make the dressing and found that this came together really quickly. I included the second tsp of garlic with the dressing, as I figured it was part of the "remaining ingredients". I made the pita chips with this and it was great. BIG servings!

[JackieO]

JeanZ -- I am so glad you revived this thread! We had this dish quite a bit in the summer of 2002 and early into 2003. Then we moved, and the recipe rotation went seriously out of kilter! :eek:

I saw the message that the thread had been revived in my inbox on Monday morning (I no longer subscribe to that aspect of the CLBB), so I knew it had to be about an "oldie."

Last week, my neighbor put me in charge of his garden when he went to his cabin, and I was able to reap the bounty -- fresh tomatoes, zucchini and cukes. I stopped by the grocery store Monday night and bought lemon-pepper marinated chix breasts, the feta and olives, and went home and threw this meal together in about a half-hour. (I added some garlic and oregano to the chicken before putting it on the grill.)

DH vaguely remembered it and really enjoyed the large serving (served over chopped romaine and with pita crisps). I grilled extra chicken and used the leftovers for chicken-caesar wraps tonight, embellished with fresh tomatoes & green peppers. DH raved for a second night in a row. Doesn't get much better than that! :D

Thanks again.

PS -- I passed along the souvlaki recipe to the neighbors last night when I returned the key to their house. They are intrigued as well.

[Aninha]

Thanks for reminding me of this recipe. This salad is great, I love it! We also had it during the summer it appeared on the magazine and the following year, but then I don't know why I sorto of forgot making it anymore. So many recipes, so little time.
Time to make it again, yum!!
Ana

[celestialchef]

I remember seeing this in the magazine but I never made it until now. Very good!! I marinated the chicken in FF italian dressing and oregano because it was just easier. I seeded my cucumbers to try to keep down the liquid and kept the dressing on the side since I planned to bring it to work for lunch. Just had a serving and put with some greens in a ww wrap. Very tasty. I also added extra garlic to the dressing and tried to squeeze/blot some of the liquid out of the grated cucumber in the dressing.

[essie]

Made this for lunch today and it was very good, but I did have to make some changes. I bought cucumbers for this but apparently used them for something else, so I left them out, added some fresh mint and oregano and parsley to the dressing, and served the salad over chopped romaine lettuce. We thought it was great, and the servings were big!

[JackieO]

Well I tried this Chicken Souvlaki Salad and both myself and my DH thought it was fabulous. I'll be making that one again. Quick question.....do you think you could make it the night before your event??? How would the cucumbers hold up?? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks, LaurieC
I had to revive this old thread because two of my co-workers and I brought lunch to a new-mom colleague today. I volunteered to make this salad, another woman brought red grapes and dark chocolate and my other colleague bought wonderful, crusty rolls. I chopped up the chicken breast on Sunday night and marinated it in the 'fridge in a plastic bag, then pan-fried it Monday night. I also mixed the yogurt dressing (minus the cukes) and packaged that in a disposable container. Chopped the onion, kalamata olives and threw in some chopped red pepper for good measure, and put it in another disposable container. Packed the prepped ingredients in a cooler with an ice pack and threw in a container of grape tomatoes, two English cukes and a container of feta cheese, along with a large bowl. Have lunch, will travel. We reheated the chix in a microwave while I chopped one cuke for the salad and a colleague grated the other for the dressing and chopped the tomatoes in half. Took less than 10 minutes to put on the table from the time we arrived at the new mom's house. EVERYONE raved about the salad.

A definite do-ahead as well as an easy real time assembly. Awesome.

And I almost got a tear in my eye as I read through this thread -- Jholcomb, Dcornelius, KValley. Isn't it bad enough that I am OLD IRL; I'm starting to feel virtually old now, too? :eek:

[KLynn]

This is one of my all-time favorite CL recipes, and I make it several times each summer. A winner!

[donnamp14]

I made this the other night and we both loved it! I am trying to lose weight (sparkpeople.com) and this fit the bill. I used fewer cucumbers, and grilled the chicken with garlic powder and lemon/pepper. Yes, 2 cups is more than I can eat! And it does get watery. But it's wonderful! It'll be a go-to recipe from now on when I need enough to have lunch leftovers. I really liked the tzaziki sauce. So good, so easy and so healthful!

-Donna