Monday, March 17, 2008

Chicken Greek a Tikka Salad Wraps with Parsley Feta Pesto

Chicken Greek a Tikka Salad with Parsley Feta Pesto
Whew...what a name! I saw these on Rachael Ray's show and was instantly intrigued and sold on her fusion between Greek & Indian food. The chicken is marinated in a yogurt and coriander spice marinade and then grilled, while the accompanying salad contains many of the typical Greek salad goodies - feta cheese, kalamata olives (though I omit these because of personal preference) and a light vinaigrette. This has become one of our all-time favorite meals. While Rachael serves this as a salad with pitas on the side, we prefer to spread the thick parsley feta pesto on Mediterranean flat bread, and make wraps. Either way, this is an absolutely fresh and delicious dish! If you're not in the mood for making the pesto, this would be equally as delicious with some hummus or tzatzki sauce.
Since hubby is finally getting over his flu and regaining his appetite, I've been cooking up a storm. More to come!

Chicken Greek-a-Tikka Salad with Parsley-Feta Pesto
Adapted from Rachael Ray

4 flat breads or pitas (I prefer Trader Joe's Mediterranean flat bread)
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning (Rachael uses grill seasoning, but I only have Old Bay)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 to 2 1/2 pounds white meat chicken, cubed into bite size pieces
1 heart romaine lettuce, chopped
2 vine ripe tomatoes, chopped
1/2 seedless cucumber, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
1 lemon, juiced
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper

Parsley Feta Pesto:
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
3/4 cup feta crumbles, divided
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Metal skewers or bamboo skewers soaked in water

Preheat a grill pan to high heat. Heat a toaster oven or oven to 250 degrees F.
Wrap breads in foil and place in oven to warm.

Combine yogurt and next 5 ingredients (coriander to garlic). Coat chicken in mixture then thread meat onto skewers. Brush grill pan with oil and grill meat 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through and browned.

Combine chopped lettuce, chopped veggies, olives and hot peppers on a large platter or in a serving bowl. Dress the salad very lightly in lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Top with 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles.

Place all ingredients, including the remaining 1/2 cup of feta for pesto in the food processor except extra-virgin olive oil. Turn processor on and stream in extra-virgin olive oil. If your food processor does not have this option, pulse in 1 tbsp of olive oil at a time.

Remove bread from oven and spread with the pesto. Place grilled meat on salad platter and serve, allowing guests to make their own wraps.

1 comment:

Julia Goolia said...

And I just discovered you have a blog! I'm late on this but I love it. All of your posts make me very very hungry. And I totally need to master cooking so I'll be back for more:)