I’ll tell you the story of how this lovely “Greek Night Dinner” came together with chicken kale salad, tzatziki, and pita chips: it all started with a cucumber. I was walking through the grocery store, looking at all the vegetables, and pondering which ones I had not picked up in awhile. I saw the cucumbers and tossed one into the grocery cart. As I was driving home, I had a flashback to an awesome cucumber greek yogurt salad that a friend had made for a dinner party one night. Next thing I knew, I was Googling recipes for cucumber salads when it struck me: tzatziki. That awesome white sauce/dip that comes with your shawarma or on your Greek platter. It’s base is cucumbers, greek yogurt, lemon, olive oil, garlic, dill and/or mint, and salt and pepper. Basically everything lovely, delicious, and Greek.
Now, what to serve with the tzatziki? We had a big bag of pita bread in the refrigerator that was just languishing away, longing for something to be dipped in. I had recently discovered that although our oven is currently broken, the broiler does in fact still work. This led to the pita chips.
We still needed a main dish for the meal (but who am I kidding, I could absolutely eat enough tzatziki and pita chips to qualify as a dinner). I had just brought home a giant bag of kale from Trader Joe’s, so I figured we should get to work on that. Kale salad with grilled chicken, kalamata olives, and feta. The Greek Night Dinner was coming together.
Let’s talk about kale salad real quick. The first time I had a kale salad from a restaurant, I thought to myself “Ooo, I’m going to make myself kale salads from now on!”. I bought a big bunch of kale, brought it home, and stared at it on my counter. What now?? The first temptation is to treat it like any other salad green and just put some toppings on it. But wait – there’s a couple steps you need to follow first to make a successful kale salad or else you’ll be chewing for hours:
- Cut the ribs out of the kale. Run a knife along each side of the rib to separate it from the leafy greens.
- Tear or cut the kale into small pieces. Kale salads should have smaller pieces than a spinach or lettuce salad. Put the pieces in a large bowl. Know that the kale will break down to about 2/3 to 1/2 the volume in the next couple of steps, so prep more than you think you’ll need.
- Massage the kale. Drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle some salt over the kale. Stick your (washed) hands into the bowl and squeeze handfuls of kale for a minute or two until the kale leaves turn a brighter green and reduce in volume. What you are doing here is breaking down the cellulose structure of the kale to make it more tender. The salt and olive oil help with this process and cut the bitterness of the kale. Don’t forget to take a second to giggle at the fact that you are “massaging” your salad – but I promise, it’s an important step.
- Finish off with toppings and additional dressing. Now that you’ve given your kale a good rubdown, you can put all the toppings you want: chicken, nuts, dried fruits, seeds, cheese, whatever your heart desires. If the olive oil is not enough for you, you can toss in additional dressing. Kale salads store much better than other salads – so it’s a great make-ahead meal!
- One large boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- 6 to 7 cups fresh kale
- 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, sliced into pieces
- 1/4 cup feta cheese
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- ½ cup diced cucumber
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Juice from ½ a medium lemon (~1 Tbsp)
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
- 1 Tbsp. chopped mint [optional]
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 pita rounds, cut into 8 triangles each
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- Salt
- If grilling the chicken, fillet the chicken breast in half to make two thinner pieces for quicker and more even cooking. Season the chicken breasts with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Grill for 6-7 minutes on each side until cooked through.
- Cut the ribs out of the kale by running a knife along each edge of the rib running down the length of the leaf.
- Tear the kale into small pieces and place in a large bowl until you have 6-7 cups of kale.
- Drizzle 1 Tbsp. of olive oil onto the kale and 1/4 tsp. salt onto the kale. Squeeze the kale in both hands until kale turns a darker green and becomes silky.
- Toss in the kalamata olives and feta. Top with slices of grilled chicken.
- In a bowl, stir together all ingredients (greek yogurt, finely diced cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil) and add salt and pepper to taste. The tzatziki is best if made a little ahead of time and chilled in the fridge for 2 hours before serving. This allows the flavors to meld together.
- Spread out pita pieces (cut into triangles) on a baking sheet. Lightly coat each side of the pita pieces in olive oil and salt. Place in the oven under the high broil setting. Flip once the tops become lightly browned (around 4 minutes) and remove from the oven once the second side lightly browns as well.
What a great tip for preparing kale!
There are a lot of kale nay-sayers in the world but this salad might get them to give it a try.