Greek-style Grilled Chicken & Veggies

July 6 - Chicken Enchiladas - a total throw together when I realized the mole sauce I had went bad!
July 7 - Greek-style Grilled Chicken & veggies
July 8 - Cobb Salad with leftover chicken

As I started typing out what I cooked these last few days I realized that it was all about chicken.  That was not intentional or planned and while I often find chicken boring I think all of these dishes were tasty and worked well.  Even the weird verde-ish enchiladas I made out of necessity when my other plan failed.

The winner was by far the Greek Grilled Chicken I made on Thursday.  I't a Boby Flay recipe I decided to try out since I had the ingredients on hand and love the sound of the simple grilled whole chicken with grilled tomatoes & lemons all topped with a dijon vinaigrette.


This chicken was so good that my mouth is watering as I write this post.  I am beyond bummed that I won't be able to make it again.  It may look like a mess in a bowl, but to me this is the perfect summer meal, a huge bowl or platter filled with fresh veggies and meat that you just put on the table and people go at it picking what they want.  I even threw some mache salad mix at the bottom of the bowl so it soaked up the chicken juice and the vinaigrette, making for an uber delicious salad at the bottom of the serving bowl.  In retrospect I should have waited and made this when we were having people over for dinner.

Greek-Style Grilled Chicken & Veggies
adapted from Bobby Flay

• 1 (3-pound) chicken, washed, patted dry and spatchcocked
•  sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Canola oil
• 6 plum tomatoes, halved
• 2 lemons, cut in 1/2
• 1 red onion, skin on, cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsps Dijon mustard
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil
• 2 to 3 Tbsps chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted
• 6 ounces feta, crumbled
• 1/4 cup basil leaves
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt or tzaziki

1. Preheat grill to medium. If using hardwood or other charcoal, move over to 1 side of grill; if using gas, leave 1 section off.

2. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper, and drizzle well with canola oil (I skipped the canola oil here because our grill is prone to insane flare-ups and I think there's enough fat int he chicken skin on it's own to crisp up). 

3. Place on the grill skin side down over direct heat, cooking until golden brown and slightly charred. Open and close the grill, as necessary, to maintain the heat without letting the skin burn. 

4. When skin is nicely charred and blistered, flip over and move to indirect heat, close lid and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 17 minutes longer, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the chicken registers 155 degrees F. This took about twice as long for me, almost 30 minutes. 

5. Remove from the grill and let rest 10 minutes before cutting.

6. While the chicken is cooking, brush tomatoes, lemons and onion slices with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Grill lemons cut side down until golden brown, and tomatoes cut side down until slightly charred. Grill onion slices, flipping once, until softened and slightly charred.

7. Make the vinaigrette by whisking the vinegar and mustard until smooth. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, then whisk in the oregano and season with salt and pepper.

8. To serve, carve the chicken into 6 to 8 serving pieces and arrange in a large shallow serving bowl. Arrange the tomatoes and onions, lemons and the cucumbers over and around the chicken. Scatter the olives and feta cheese over, then drizzle with vinaigrette. Tear the basil leaves over the dish, and then dollop the yogurt in the center.