Mediteranean Dinner!

The family came over for dinner tonight so I decided to try a few new recipes I found and they all went together perfectly and everyone really seemed to enjoy them!  The theme is Mediteranean.  For a main dish I made Feta and Sun Dried Tomato stuffed chicken, with a side of couscous, and a Greek Salad.  Huge Hit and really VERY easy for how impressive it is!

Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 tablespoons Greek seasoning
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 6 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
•  
• 1 package (6 oz.) crumbled feta cheese
• 18 chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 20 pitted and coarsely chopped kalamata olives (optional)
• 3 tablespoon oil from the sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and rinsed
• 12 roasted red pepper strips

Directions

1. Whisk together the lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, Greek seasoning, and lemon zest in a bowl. Pound the chicken breasts between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Marinate the chicken in the lemon marinade at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together the feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and 3 tablespoon of oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes in a small bowl; set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade, and shake off excess. Discard the remaining marinade. Divide the stuffing mixture onto each piece of chicken. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Place onto a baking dish, seam-side down, top with spinach and place two roasted pepper strips onto each stuffed breast.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink, about 35-40 minutes. Remember to remove the toothpicks before serving.

I needed more chicken breasts so went to the grocery store.  I accidently grabbed the chicken tender strip, so I had 3 stufed chicken breasts and the rest was just the chicken tender strips topped with the filling, which was also DELICIOUS!

Mediteranean Salad:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bag fresh spinach (rinsed)
• 1 cup mild giardiniera and it's juice (found near the olives...also comes in hot, which is great , but not if you are trying to feed children)
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives (preferably pitted)
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers
• 1/2 cup italian dressing
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 T. Balsamic vinegar
• dash of pepper

Mix all ingredients just before serving

FETA CHEESE IS GREAT ON HERE ALSO.


Couscous

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup couscous

1/2 cup boiling water

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup diced red bell pepper

4 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1 pinch salt

1 pinch ground black pepper

1 dash balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Stir couscous into boiling water and return water to a boil. Cover and remove pot from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
3. While the couscous is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic, green onions and peppers; saute briefly. Stir in tomatoes, basil, cooked couscous, salt and pepper. Mix together and transfer to a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Splash some balsamic vinegar on top.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese while still warm.

This is great dinner to serve to company if you want like to treat them to something special.  Very tasty, and looks like you slaved away when really it is a very simple dinner to prepare!  The kids ate the couscous and the chicken with some of the "weird looking" stuff scraped off of it!