The main feature of this dish is this nuance: the ingredients are cut quite large. Today we will talk about Greek salad with chicken - an authentic national dish that has won worldwide recognition. During cooking, vegetables with cheese, olives, etc. in a snack are combined according to the principle voiced by James Bond in the series about agent 007, that is, they are not mixed. This method, which may seem rather strange, is explained by European culinary experts by the fact that the classic Greek salad with chicken allows you to feel the tastes of each ingredient: individually and as a whole. Are you ready to feel them too? Then let's get started!
A few words about this appetizer
Due to the presence of greens, various vegetables and fresh cheese, Greek salad with chicken is traditionally considered a vitamin, nutritious dish that can replace a full dinner. So that it was more satisfying, but not loaded with excessive kilocalories, add tender chicken (as the fillet is). As a rule, in a Greek salad recipe with chicken, dressing is made from lemon, olive oil, and spices. Often used balsamic vinegar. For example, in Greece there is also such a tradition - a snack with the addition of such vinegar is served at celebrations, feasts - for super important guests.
Greek salad, classic recipe - with chicken
We take the following ingredients for the dish: a half-kilogram filet, a few cucumbers, cheese - 100 grams (feta or feta cheese), a couple of onions, several tomatoes, a jar of black olives without stones, a couple of garlic cloves, herbs spices, salt and pepper. For dressing, take the juice of one lemon, 3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. And for decoration we will use fresh herbs in large quantities.
Pickle meat
- Greek chicken salad is pretty easy. Thaw the chicken fillet first (if it was bought frozen). Then we wash the meat in cool water and cut off the excess veins with the skin. Cut the fillet into large cubes.
- For raw meat we prepare marinade (a mixture of olive oil with lemon juice and minced garlic with spices). For piquancy, you can also add mustard with red pepper and curry.
- We shift the slices of fillets into a separate container, evenly pour the dressing and mix the chopped meat by hand, so that the marinade is better absorbed. We cover the dish with plastic kitchen wrap and send it down the refrigerator for several hours. This time is enough for the meat to be saturated with aromas of spices and herbs.
Cooking Greek Chicken Salad
- Wash well-marinated slices of fillets with water, dry and fry in a skillet or in a multicooker bowl - from different sides until tender. We shift the meat to a plate and leave it to cool completely.
- Cut feta cheese into medium sized cubes. If you use brynza, which is salty in itself, for cooking, then you can’t add any Greek salad with chicken (if the cheese is even too salty, soak it for half an hour in milk or mineral water). At the end, this ingredient is cut into fairly large cubes.
- We clear the cucumbers with tomatoes from the stalks and cut them into large pieces: tomatoes into slices, cucumbers in a semicircle.
- Pitted olives are cut in half or rings.
- The bottom of a deep large capacity is decorated with lettuce. We spread chicken meat on them one by one. Then - vegetables, cheese, olives. Sprinkle salad with chopped herbs on top (you can use parsley and dill, as well as basil, cilantro, if desired). We fill the vitamin-rich dish with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Refill Option
You can also prepare an original dressing for a Greek salad. It is made from grated egg yolk, chopped garlic, with mustard, with lemon juice and olive oil. We stir all the resulting mass with a whisk (or mixer) until smooth. And then we immediately refill the dish with it.
An important accessory - crackers
For the original taste and nutrition, we add crackers to the Greek appetizer . Thin slices of bread are cut into small cubes or strips, sprinkled with olive oil, and then either fry in a pan or bake in the oven until golden brown. During cooking, so that the bread product is evenly fried or baked, turn the workpiece several times with a spatula on a baking sheet or pan. Ready crackers retain a pleasant crunch when they are added to the dish just before serving.
Subtleties of serving
If desired, you can decorate the salad with pine nuts, chopping them in advance. And to enhance the taste of the salad, you can add avocado to it. Cut the fruit in half, peel the seeds with the skin, and cut the flesh coarsely, adding it to the salad. At the same time, the dish does not lose its taste, and the avocado in an unusual way harmonizes with chicken and vegetables. Bon appetit to all!