Cook Once; Eat Twice

This summer I have been doing a lot of cooking.  I have tried out many new recipes in addition to my old favorites.  A lot of my cooking this summer has been from my Best Ever Greek cookbook.  I got this book for $3.99 at Marshalls.  What a great deal!  I have used it so many times already and have many more recipes to try.

The other night I made three things from this book. These recipes sound a lot more complicated than they actually are to make. The time it takes to wait for everything to marinate is what makes it so time consuming.

Chicken kabobs with yogurt sauce

1. To make the sauce: 1 ¼ cups of Greek yogurt (I use Chobani); 2 crushed cloves of garlic; juice of ½ lemon; 1 tbsp of fresh herbs (oregano, dill, tarragon, or parsley; I used dill); salt and pepper.  Put in a large bowl and mix together.
2. Cut chicken breasts into chunks about 1 ½ inches square. (recipe calls for 4 chicken breasts, I used 2 and still had leftovers).  Add to the yogurt mixture and toss well.  Cover and leave to marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator. 
3. Meanwhile, if you are using wooden skewers, make sure they soak for 30 minutes prior to use.  Or you can use flat, metal skewers.  You could even use rosemary sprigs.
4. Preheat the broiler.  Thread the chicken onto the skewers (grease the skewers if using metal.)  Place kabobs on a greased broiler pan.
5. Cook under the broiler for about 15 minutes, turning and basting with remaining marinade as needed.
6. Pour the remaining marinate into a pan and heat gently but do not boil. (I found that there was not much leftover and I only used 2 chicken breasts!)
7. Serving suggestion: on shredded lettuce on a bed of rice and garnished with lemon slices. (and yogurt sauce)

Zucchini slices

1. Heat some olive oil in a pan.
2. Slice baby zucchini into ¼ inch strips. (I used regular sized zucchini-that’s what I had)
3. Coat the slices in flour and fry 5-10 minutes.
4. When finished, season with salt and pepper.

Carrots a la grecque

1. Cut one pound of carrots into fingers, the thickness of fries. (I used baby carrots, that’s what I had)
2. Put in a large pan with 1 ¾ cups of dry white wine, 1 tbsp Greek honey (I used what I had), 2 sprigs of thyme, 6 sprigs of parsley, 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves of garlic, chopped; 1 tbsp crushed coriander seeds
3. Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, about 20 minutes, or until tender.
4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer carrots to a serving dish.  Return cooking liquid to a boil and boil until it is reduced by half.
5. Strain the liquid over the carrots and let cool.  Then chill in the refrigerator 3-4 hours.
6. Serve at room temperature and garnish with fresh herbs.

There was plenty of leftover chicken so I used it to make another recipe that I found in Taste Of Home magazine (March 2011).  We had this for lunch with a side of pasta salad.

California Chicken Wraps

Spread hummus (I used garlic hummus) on a whole wheat tortilla, top with cubed chicken, chopped roasted red peppers, feta cheese, thinly sliced fresh basil.  Roll it up.

Putting it all together.

All rolled up with a side of pasta salad! Yum!