Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken over Spinach-Dill Rice, with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

I have been a little uninspired lately with my cooking, so I wanted to try something new. Greek is a cuisine that I have little experience cooking but intrigues me. Greek foodies: ANY comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated! : )

This recipe looks complicated, but each step takes about ten minutes to complete. The chicken can be marinated & stuffed the night before serving or earlier that day. The cucumber-yogurt sauce can be prepared up to 2 days before serving. This serves about 3-4 people.

For Chicken Marinade:

2 lbs chicken drumsticks (about 6)
1/2 lemon, juiced
12 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup EVOO (8 tablespoons)
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cloves chopped garlic
Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chicken stock (reserved for cooking)

Rinse chicken with water and pat dry with a paper towel. In a shallow baking dish, drizzle olive oil, lemon juice and white wine over chicken.

Sprinkle garlic and olives over chicken and cover with freshly ground black pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.



For Spinach & Feta Stuffing:

1 cup chopped spinach (I used frozen chopped spinach for this recipe)
1 tablespoon minced dill
2 green onions
6 oz crumbled feta cheese

Remove chicken from marinade.

Heat up marinate in saute pan until simmering. Simmer until liquid is reduced (less than 1/4 cup liquid).

Add green onions and saute 1 minute.

Add spinach and cook 1 minute.

Mix in dill and feta cheese.




Remove from heat.

Carefully push cooled stuffing into each chicken drumstick.



To Cook Chicken:

Heat oven to 350.

Pour 1 cup chicken broth into saute pan and bring to boil on high heat. Pour into 9 x 13 glass baking dish.

Place each chicken drumstick stuffing-side up in baking dish.

Bake approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour (until juices run clear).

While chicken is roasting, prepare Spinach-Dill rice.

For Spinach-Dill Rice:

1 tablespoon EVOO 1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped spinach
1 tablespoon minced dill
1 1/2-2 cups chicken stock
1 cup of rice

Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in medium-sized sauce pot. Add onion and garlic and saute 5 minutes until onion is translucent.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Add rice and stir 1 minute.

Stir in dill, reduce heat to low and cook about 20 minutes, until liquid has evaporated, stirring very occasionally.

Stir in spinach and fluff to serve.

For Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce:

1 /2 cups Greek yogurt
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 minced garlic clove
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons EVOO

Stir ingredients together, cover and refrigerate a minimum of 3 hours before serving.



Scoop rice over 3-4 dinner plates. Place 1 or 2 chicken drumsticks over rice. Carefully scoop cucumber-yogurt sauce over chicken and rice.


Happy Eating,

Caitlin

Vegetarian Moussaka

Ingredients:
1 cup lentils
3 large potatoes peeled
1 large eggplant
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions
6 cloves garlic
1 red bell pepper
12 oz baby bellas
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash cayenne pepper
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 400.

Rinse lentils well and add to large sauce pot. Add water to cover and boil 20-30 minutes, until soft, adding additional water if needed. Drain lentils.

While lentils are cooking slice eggplant into 1/2 inch thick discs, removing peel, and salt generously. Let sit about 10 minutes then rinse well with water and let drain. Place on oiled baking sheet and cook 15 minutes, or until soft. Remove from oven.

Also while lentils are cooking, scrub potatoes clean under running water. Peel potatoes and slice into thin discs. In large sauce pan, cover with water and bring to boil. Add a little salt and simmer about 15-20 minutes, or until soft. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Dice onion and mince garlic. Heat up olive oil in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, turning heat down to medium. Saute about 5-7 minutes.

Chop mushrooms and the red bell pepper and add to the saute pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, cinnamon and cayenne, and cook at a simmer until the mixture thickens, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

In large bowl, mix 1/2 of saute pan mixture with lentils.

In 9 by 13 pan, spread out lentil mixture. Cover the lentils with overlapping potato slices. Spread 1/2 of remaining mushroom-tomato sauce over potatoes. Cover with eggplant slices, using the remaining sauce to cover eggplant.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook for a couple of minutes until golden, then whisk in milk. Whisk constantly until the roux boils and begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the white sauce over the pan, smoothing so that the entire top is covered with white sauce. Bake on middle rack of oven for about 45 minutes. The top should be turning golden brown when finished. Remove from oven. Let sit about 10-20 minutes to let moussaka firm up before serving.