Chicken Greek Salad

A traditional Greek salad, with chicken added, it's familiar and new at the same time. The time saver for an at-home meal? Rotisserie chicken!

~ Skip Straight to the Recipes ~
~ Chicken Greek Salad ~
~ Simple Hummus ~

"Drive By" not "Drive Through"

Summer nights create a thousand ready reasons to skip supper at home in the kitchen. Little League and bike rides that run long. An after-work happy hour on a breezy patio. Lawn mowing. A family outing to the zoo. Day games. An oh-so-pretty-nobody-wants-to-leave afternoon at the pool.

An obvious answer to the 'What’s for supper?' question is drive-through food on the way home. Instead, think about drive-by food on the way home.

Drive by the grocery, grab a rotisserie chicken (a busy parent’s miracle food if there ever is one) and a few vegetables. Get home. Kick off the shoes. Assemble the salad. Plate. Somebody pour the milk, please! Pray. Eat. Enjoy.

Don't Forget the Hummus!

Hummus is the chickpea paste served with pita rounds in Greek restaurants. Grocery stores carry prepared versions but hummus is quick ‘n’ easy to make at home.

Honestly, today (during a recipe update) it feels funny to be explaining what hummus is. But back in 2007, when this column was first published, hummus wasn't as well known! How things do change!

My recipe for Simple Hummus is a great starter recipe for homemade hummus, just the basics, nothing fancy, still 100x better than anything you can buy.

Since 2007, I've really honed my ideas about hummus. I'll even encourage you to cook your own chickpeas! I use a technique that works especially well for hummus and over time have settled on three favorite recipes for hummus.

• #1 How to Cook Dried Chickpeas Especially for Hummus aka "Jerusalem Chickpeas"
• #2 Crazy-Smooth Crazy-Good Hummus
• #3 Roasted Eggplant “Hummus" (Eggplant & Chickpea Dip & Spread)
• #4 Red Pepper Hummus

Did you know? The word "hummus" actually means "chickpeas". So if you call something "chickpea hummus" it's like a stutter, as if you are saying "steak steak" or "butter butter" or "cabbage cabbage".

What that word dancing illuminates is that while traditional hummus is indeed made with hummus, there are other options. How about:

• Lima Bean Hummus?
• Pumpkin Hummus with Honey?
• Cauliflower Hummus?
• Eggplant Sandwiches with Cilantro Hummus?

So many ways to make hummus!

RESOURCE My collection of Chickpea Recipes & Garbanzo Bean Recipes ♥ Alphabet of Vegetables at A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables.

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QUICK SUPPER: CHICKEN GREEK SALAD

Just assemble and serve –
another good reason to eat at home!

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 25 minutes
Serves 4

DRESSING
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Zest from 1 lemon (see ALANNA’s TIPS)
• Juice of 2 lemons (about 3 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled between fingertips (see TIPS)
• Salt & pepper to taste

SALAD
• 3 cups rotisserie chicken, skin removed, in bite-size pieces (or leftover grilled chicken)
• 1 English cucumber, diced
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 20 kalamata olives, halved or quartered
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced fine
• Other veggies, optional

TO SERVE
• Romaine lettuce for 4, torn
• Baby spinach for 4
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

DRESSING Whisk dressing ingredients in large bowl.

SALAD Stir in chicken, cucumber, tomato, olives and red onion and combine well, right in the dressing bowl.

TO SERVE Arrange lettuce and spinach on four plates. Top with the chicken mixture, then sprinkle with feta cheese. Serve with torn pita bread and hummus – and enjoy, at home!

MORE SERVING IDEAS Usually, I make this salad all in one big jumble but for a group, I've also made a "Greek Salad Bar" with individual bowls of each of the ingredients, letting people build their own salad plates. For picture purposes and for a person or two, a "composed salad" does the trick. All work!

ALANNA's TIPS Lime substitutes beautifully for lemon in the dressing. Why crumble dried herbs? You’ll know if you smell your fingertips: even gentle crushing releases the oils, intensifying flavor just a tidge. With olives, it's easy for the calories to really add up. That's why I like to cut each olive into halves or quarters, that way there are "more bites" of the salty goodness, creating the illusion that there are 2x or 4x more! Everyone famished tonight? Bulk up with extra cucumber and tomato; add sweet pepper, fennel, zucchini, even whole or roasted chickpeas (if you’re not making hummus) and pepperoncini.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 276 Calories; 11g Tot Fat; 4g Sat Fat; 10g Carb; 3g Fiber; 344mg Sodium; 88mg Cholesterol; 5g Sugars; 32g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 6 & PointsPlus 7 & SmartPoints 7 & Freestyle 4

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SIMPLE HUMMUS

A basic starter recipe

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes

In a food processor (or with a potato masher), purée a can of drained garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas), 2 cloves of garlic, 1/3 cup of tahini (a sesame seed paste or in a pinch, use peanut butter), the juice of a lemon or two, some fresh parsley. Add olive oil a few drops at a time until a spreadable consistency is reached. Makes 1-3/4 cups.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Tablespoon/Quarter Cup: 33/133 Calories; 2/8g Tot Fat; 0/1g Sat Fat; 3/12g Carb; 1/3g Fiber; 52/209mg Sodium; 0mg Cholesterol; 0g Sugars; 1/4g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 1/3 & PointsPlus 1/3 & SmartPoints 1/4 & Freestyle 1/3

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More Greek-Style Recipes

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ more Greek recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

~ Greek Greens (Flash Cook to Eat Later) ~
~ Greek Bread Salad with Toasted Pita Chips ~
~ Creamy Feta Mousse with Greek Salads ~
~ Greek Lentil Soup ~
Greek Spinach-Asparagus-Potato Gratin (Spinaki me Sparaggia Orgraten)
from A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables

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More Salad Suppers

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ more cold supper recipes ~

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ chicken recipes ~
~ lemon recipes ~
~ tomato recipes ~
~ cucumber recipes ~
~ olives ~
~ spinach recipes ~
~ feta recipes ~
~ canned & dried bean recipes ~
~ tahini recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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