Greek Chicken and Olive Tapenade
For all those readers just interested in the food and not the food facts/story, skip down to the first picture and it will take you to the recipe! For those ready for the full crazy adventure....let's do this.
We are back sports fans! Time for the May edition of the blog. I tried this recipe out a few weeks ago and was completely surprised by how well all the flavors worked together!! I wouldn't have thought to pair some of these things together, but man, it works!! I found the recipe on "Blue Apron"- a meal delivery service that sends the fresh ingredients for you to cook and try new things at home. This one was called "Greek Chicken with Olive Tapenade and Creamy Orzo" and my husband and I decided to give something new a try! Definitely a good call on our part! We really enjoyed it so I wanted to share. You can find the blue apron recipe here: https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/greek-chicken-with-olive-tapenade-creamy-orzo
this version in the blog is pretty much the same, just making it a little easier with ingredients you may already have- like sour cream- rather than creme fraiche which may be a little harder to find in your local grocery store. I don't know how they did it, but they even made me like black olives in this recipe which I normally haaaaaate. Serious bonus points for that one! So here are the healthy ingredients featured in this Greek chicken dish:
(information below obtained from the book 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life by David Grotto R.D. unless otherwise stated)
-Oregano. This packs a punch for being an herb! One tablespoon of Oregano has the same antioxidant strength as an apple! It also contains vitamin K, vitamin B, manganese, calcium, iron, fiber, and beta-carotene. Oregano is antibacterial and may also aid in preventing cancer.
-Lemon. Lemons are an excellent source of vitamin C, they also contain vitamin A, folate, calcium, antioxidants, and potassium. Lemons may help to fight cancer, may protect against rheumatoid arthritis, and may aid in preventing heart disease as well.
-Black olives. Black olives contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, are anti-inflammatory, and help to fight heart disease and to fight cancer. They also contain antioxidants, can aid in lowering cholesterol, blood pressure, and risk of coronary disease.
-Brussels Spouts. Brussels sprouts are rich in vitamin C, vitamin B, vitamin A, vitamin K, fiber, manganese, potassium, and antioxidants. They boost your immune system, aid in digestion, reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, may aid in fighting cancer and balancing hormone levels. (information obtained from organicfacts.net)
-Garlic. Garlic helps with digestion, aids in lowering cholesterol, regulates blood sugar levels, lowers blood pressure, aids in preventing cancer, contains antioxidants, and can help fight illness or colds. (information obtained from organicfacts.net)
Time to get busy!
Ingredients:
-1-2 Tsp Oregano
-4 oz Pitted Greek Kalamata Black Olives
-2 Cloves of Garlic
-2 Lemons
-4 Chicken Breasts
-1 Box of Orzo Noodles
-1 lb Fresh Brussels Sprouts
-Feta Cheese (to taste....I loooove cheese so I put extra in mine!)
-Sour Cream
-Olive oil
Sauce Pan
Frying Pan
Cookie Sheet
Zester/ Microplane
Cook time: approximately 30 minutes.
*I made a big portion for this meal so that we could freeze it and eat it again later. Feel free to reduce the recipe down...This would probably serve about 4 people.
Preheat your oven to 450 and prepare the brussels sprouts to be roasted.
Cut off the bottom of the brussels sprouts and halve lengthwise. If you have smaller brussels sprouts, you may want to keep them like this. The fresh brussels sprouts I found were still a little big like this to be considered "bite size" so I sliced them down into slivers. (The brussels sprouts will be going into the pasta, so you want them small enough to be able to get a little bit of everything on your fork.)
Place all of your sliced brussels sprouts on your cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and season. Once finished, place into your oven at 450 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until slightly softened with that nice roasted brown on top!
While your brussels sprouts are roasting, cook the orzo pasta according to the directions on the box.
I ended up making the entire box for this dinner.....we love how the pasta tastes with these flavors and enjoy having extra for lunches! Which means I had more brussels sprouts, feta cheese, and sour cream to go into the pasta since it was a larger portion. Feel free to reduce these amounts to fit your portion!
While you have your brussels sprouts still cooking and now your noodles going, it's time for the chicken!
Drizzle about 2 Tbsp of olive oil into your frying pan and place on a medium high heat.
Dry off your chicken breasts with a paper towel and season on both sides with oregano, salt, and pepper.
Once the olive oil is hot, add your chicken breasts into the pan. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and cook until the chicken is cooked through and browned on both sides (around 10 mins or so). It should start looking something like this-
I like to remove the aluminum foil once the chicken is cooked through at the end to get that nice sear on both sides of the chicken.
.... take them out of the oven and place them into your drained Orzo pasta noodles.
Next step- the finishing touches to the pasta. Add in a drizzle of olive oil, your feta cheese, the juice of one lemon, and some sour cream. I added some extra feta cheese because we love it that way! Add just enough sour cream so that all the noodles stop sticking together into clumps. For a whole box of Orzo, it was probably a little over 1/4 of a cup.
Almost done! time for the last part of the meal! The Olive Tapenade-
Zest one lemon, making sure to only zest the yellow part of the rind, not the white part.
Next, finely chop your black olives and garlic cloves (make sure you remove the paper exterior). If you get olives already pitted, you won't have to worry about removing all of those pesky pits. Make sure you look for that on the label when you buy your olives!
And there you have it! All ready to eat! Serve the olive tapenade on top of your chicken with your creamy orzo side!
Let's get to Cookin'
~Abigail
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