Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki Sauce

I’m always looking for new things to do with chicken.  I’ve made it clear that I’m not a lover of chicken but I have a hard time coming to terms with that since it’s a pretty affordable and versatile protein.  My main “beef” (no pun intended) with chicken is that the next day it has a funny taste to it.  I’ve tried cooking chicken all different ways but have a hard time getting past it.  I’ve found that the “naturally raised” chickens from Metro seem fine, but not fine enough to entice me to eat chicken more often.

This time around I opted for the “free form” chicken from Loblaws.  I figured that since the chicken is marinated it would be fine.  It was great fresh out of the oven (I opted to broil the chicken versus using a grill pan).  Totally moist, well flavoured etc.  But the next day…it still had that weir chicken-y thing happening.  Not a fault of the recipe but of my aversion to chicken.

Anyway, back to the recipe.  It’s simple enough to make and uses ingredients that you would most likely have on hand.  I’m really a fan of the Tzatziki sauce although I think next time I would add some dill.  I was kind of eating it by the spoonful.  Inappropriate, I know.  But would be yummy with some pita chips.

This is a keeper for a weeknight for sure.  I turned this into souvlaki in a pita but you could totally serve this with some rice or roasted potatoes.  This also reminds me that Greek foods are pretty underrepresented.  Let’s turn that around…

Here’s what others have to say about this recipe:
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FFG’s Recipe Reviews

Souvlaki:
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into (1/2-inch-thick) slices
Cooking spray

Tzatziki Sauce:
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, and shredded
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced

To prepare souvlaki, combine the first 5 ingredients in a zip-top plastic bag; seal and shake to combine. Add chicken to bag; seal and shake to coat. Marinate chicken in refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning once.

Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Thread the chicken and zucchini, alternately onto each of 4 (8-inch) skewers.

Heat a grill pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add skewers; cook 8 minutes or until chicken is done, turning once.

To prepare tzatziki sauce, combine cucumber, yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 garlic clove, stirring well. Serve the tzatziki sauce with souvlaki.

(Recipe from Cooking Light, March 2003)