Most of this recipe came from an episode of The Kitchen on the Food Network. I made a few changes to make it easier. It’s a good meal for two, can scale for 4 probably, (or you can use these amounts as a side salad for four with some other entree).
This salad is pretty high in sodium and with the dressing it’s not “skinny.”
The main point is that there’s little cooking at the time of prep, so if it’s a hot summer day you don’t contribute to the swelter. There is some cooking required though. Learn from my error; if convenient, cook the chicken the day before, or grill it outside.
This served two people generously.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 heads or one bag baby romaine lettuce
- Baby kale or spinach (optional)
- 3/4 pound Feta cheese
- Creamy Herbed Greek Salad Dressing (I used a brand called Tobey’s)
- Pitted Kalamata olives
- Garbanzo Beans
- Cucumbers
- Shallots or red onions
The lady on the The Kitchen used baby kale as the leafy base. I like but don’t love raw kale, and Spouse tolerates but does not like it, so that wasn’t a good choice for us. Certainly you can throw in a few leaves if you want. I had some left over Russian kale which I shredded and added to the lettuce, It added texture and minerals and wasn’t overwhelming.
Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Put it in a large ziplock bag. Add 1/4 cup of the dressing . Seal the bag and squish around the dressing until the chicken is completely covered. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
I didn’t grill the chicken outside, so I let excess dressing drip off, then browned it in a cast iron pan with one TBSP of sunflower oil, medium high heat for five minutes on a side, then finished it in the over at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
If it’s a really hot day, chill the chicken. It would also be fine to serve slightly warm over the salad, your choice.
Cut the chicken into about 3/4-inch cubes.
Cut the Feta into about 3/4 inch cubes. You don’t have to use all of it, do it to your personal taste.
Drain the garbanzos and the olives if necessary.
Chop the romaine or open the bag and dump the lettuce into a large bowl. Based on your taste and preference, layer the following; thinly sliced red onion/shallot; cuumbers, kalamata olives, cheese cubes, and chicken. I didn’t toss this; when I got out the salad tongs and served it into smaller bowls the ingredients shifted on their own.
By the way, another area to learn from my error; I set aside some of the dressing and thinned it with red wine vinegar and olive oil. I was afraid it would be too strongly flavored and too goopy on the salad itself. It was not and the thinned dressing was a waste of effort, although not a waste of food since I had some on some cucumber slices the next day and it was good.
This is not a cheap salad to make. Kalamata olives are expensive; so is Feta and both might be subject to tariffs in the near future. I was a little surprised at the price of a jar of salad dressing. I’d recommend as an alternative, looking in a book like Michele Anna Jordan’s Vinaigrettes for one you can make yourself. (The one on page 120 looks pretty good.) I was following the TV show and going for minimum work, but I may try her dressing next time.
We had Revolution Bakery’s Einkorn bread with our salad, and it was good.
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