Chicken Gyros

This has been a very popular recipe on the What’s Cooking board that I frequent. I love greek food, and heck, my husband loves anything involving garlic, so I thought this would be a definite winner!

This recipe comes from Elly Says Opa!, whose blog I love to read for healthy inspiration and greek recipes!

This was some very flavorful chicken, and in combination with the tzatziki sauce on the homemade pita bread that I made, it was a really great dinner!

Chicken Gyros
Source: Elly Says Opa!

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs. chicken (I used boneless, skinless breasts)
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar (all I had was white wine vinegar..worked fine!)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping Tbsp. plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
1/2 batch of tzatziki (recipe to follow)
sliced tomatoes
sliced onions
4 (pocketless) pitas (I used homemade)

Directions:

1. Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, and oregano in a bowl. Add the chicken and rub the marinade in. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.
2. Preheat the broiler (or grill, or pan on the stove).  Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, and then broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, depending  what size/type chicken you are using. Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before slicing into strips.
3. Meanwhile, heat your pitas, a few seconds on each side on a skillet. Then, top the pita with the chicken, tzatziki, tomatoes, onions. Roll up and eat!

The Skinny – per serving (just the chicken), Serves 4

Calories – 197.0
Fat – 8.3 g
Fiber – 0.2 g

Tzatziki Sauce
Source: Elly Says Opa!

This makes 1/4 of the batch that Elly has in her recipe. I knew I’d be eating it alone, since my husband isn’t a fan of greek yogurt.

Ingredients:

• 1 8 oz. container of plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded and peeled
• 2 cloves garlic (LOVE garlic!)
• 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
• salt and a little pepper
• squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)
• drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Strain yogurt using a cheesecloth over a bowl (if you don’t have that, a strainer lined with a coffee filter will work) for several hours or overnight to get out as much moisture as possible. (Since I had greek yogurt, I didn’t need to do this)
2. Peel and seed the cucumber.  Shred the cucumbers and then squeeze the life out of them to get rid of as much excess moisture as possible. I use a towel to do this, and you will get a lot of liquid so don’t skip this step! Yes, there is a lot of straining and squeezing–and it’s all important! You don’t want a runny tzatziki!
3. Mix together the strained yogurt, shredded cucumbers, garlic, vinegar and lemon juice (if desired). Salt to taste. It’s best to refrigerate for 30 minutes or more before serving, so flavors can meld.
4. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top.

For this sauce, I used Stonyfield Farms Oikos Greek yogurt. I won a giveaway from Jenny’s Cooking that included coupons for this yogurt. This was a very thick yogurt, and while I’m not a fan of plain yogurt, I will say that this provided a great base for the sauce. Thanks to the people at Stonyfield Farms and Jenny’s Cooking for the coupons!

The Skinny – per 1 oz. serving, serves 8

Calories – 49.1
Fat – 3.4 g
Fiber – 0.1 g