little gi: you've got to try this...

last week was H.O.T. one of those unbearably humid & sticky & UGH hot weeks. & without central airconditioning, I needed some sort of gameplan for meals since even turning on the stovetop is unthinkable.

so I settled in my favorite chair on my deck, grabbed a bunch of cookbooks & set upon finding some ideas for meals that would be easy, healthy &, most importantly, NOT require any oven.

the one thing that I think really helped last week was having grilled chicken on hand in the fridge. grilled chicken is SO versitle & delish....and easy. so first things, first...I marinated a huge bunch of boneless chicken breasts in Brianna's Santa Fe dressing & grilled them. armed with grilled chicken set at the ready in the fridge, my cookbook scouring mission now had some direction.

I found a simple recipe in my Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home and gave it a try. SO good! we will definitely be making this again & again. in order to make it more of a "meal" rather than just a salad, I adapted it a bit, adding my grilled chicken (just diced it up), some crumbled goat cheese (no feta in the fridge this time) and served it all over a bed of fresh spinach. it was SOOOOOO good & made enough for Mike & I for dinner and then a serving leftover for my lunch the next day. super super yummy. the Moosewood recipe also called for Calamata olives. I didn't have any on hand, but will definitely try next time, I love olives. & now come to think of it...chick peas would be delicious added in too.

so here's the recipe, enjoy!!!

Greek Diced Vegetable Salad

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded & diced

1 large ripe tomato, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 scallion, finely sliced or minced

2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon (or more to taste)

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 Tablespoons minced fresh oregano

diced grilled chicken, about 2 grilled chicken cutlets

salt & pepper

spinach or romaine leaves

crumbled goat or feta cheese

Combine the cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions, parsley, oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano olives in a large bowl. Add diced grilled chicken, salt & pepper, toss well. Although you can serve the salad immediately, it is even better if it sits for about 30 minutes before serving.

Mound the salad on spinach or lettuce leaves. Top with crumbled goat cheese or feta and enjoy!!

Note: The salad will keep better if the cheese is added right before serving & not mixed in.

bon appetit!!!

xoxo

3 Comments

Now it is my turn to be totally jealous of your wonderful warm weather!! that salad looks absolutely delicious so I will pin it so I can make it when things warm up here (7 deg celsius is freezing here in my opinion!)

Posted by: Petrina McDonald | June 16, 2011 at 06:58 AM