Chicken Souvlaki salad with homemade dressing and tzatziki sauce

Yesterday I was really missing home, and a lot of the restaurants and hidden gems that I used to eat at. One of these places is a little diner tucked in between consignment stores on Main St. called Rachel's. On Mondays, at the chiropractor I used to work at, we had weekly staff meetings, and we would normally order from Rachel's-and their open chicken souvlaki salad was uh-mazing. Now, after week after week of eating the stuff it got a little tiring but I was really wanting it BIG time yesterday. Naturally, I tried to recreate it myself, and I got pretty darn close!

Rachel's makes everything from scratch, including the dressings and sauces and making my own as well was a challenge I was definitely up for. Let's start with the tzatziki sauce! It is made from yogurt, and cucumbers, and garlic and not only is it great with souvlaki, it tastes really good as a veggie dip as well, and it is SO refreshing, especially with cucumber in it.  I just happened to have everything needed to make it right in my fridge:

8 oz plain yogurt (regular or Greek)
1 cucumber, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 of a lemon, juiced
1 tbsp fresh dill
3 chopped garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

This one is easy peasy-just throw everything in the trusty food processor and blend until a it turns into a lovely sauce. Store in the fridge in a squeeze bottle or mason jar!

Next, comes the Greek salad dressing. You know the one-when it sits on the table the oil is on the top, the vinegar at the bottom, and all the herbs and spices are sitting at the bottom of the bottle, and you have to shake it up real good before you use it. Yeah, that one. Equally as easy, and it turned out just like the kind you get it the restaurant. It was oily, and herby, and garlicly-divine! And, as always, can be made with stuff you probably already have in your kitchen:

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 minced garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

I always use fresh garlic, and not the jarred kind so I chop and mince all the garlic myself. Mincing the garlic would be your first step but if you have minced, jarred garlic-use about 3 tsps. Combine the lemon juice, vinegar, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly whisk, slowly stream the olive oil into the lemon/vinegar mixture until it begins to emulsify (thicken), then just transfer to a squeeze bottle, or mason jar and store in the fridge! I reserved about a cup of the dressing to use as a marinade for my chicken, and let it soak for about 3 hours in the fridge.

I do not have a grill, but I have a cast iron panini grill for the stove, so I just used that and it worked great! Before grilling the chicken, I pounded it so flatten it out a little, so it would grill up faster without drying up or burning and it worked perfectly! Then, I served it with a spinach salad topped with fresh tomato, feta, and whole grain pita and BOOM-Chicken souvlaki salad. Keep the dressing and sauce on hand, and it will play a huge role in a quick weekday meal. Winner winner, Greek chicken dinner ;)

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