Greek-style Stuffed Chicken

This flavourful roasted chicken breast goes wonderfully with any Greek side dishes, from Village Salad to roasted lemon potatoes. Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 4 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• The juice of 1 large lemon
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp of oregano
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 tsp of ground white pepper
• 1/4 cup of kalamata olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup of feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/8 cup of sundried tomatoes, finely diced
• Several wooden toothpicks

Directions

1. Trim any excess fat from the chicken breasts, and using a very sharp knife slit the breasts in half along their thinnest edge and fold outward (a "butterfly" cut.) Set aside.
2. In a shallow baking dish, mix the lemon juice, EVOO, oregano, garlic and white pepper and whisk to blend well.
3. Place the butterflied chicken into the marinade and stir or shake the dish to ensure marinade covers all parts of the chicken. Cover and refrigerate between two and four hours.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. In a small bowl mix the kalamata olives, feta cheese and sundried tomatoes.
6. Remove chicken from marinade and lay "butterfly open" on a cutting board.
7. Spoon 1/4 of the feta mixture onto one half of the butterfly, then fold the other half on top.
8. Use toothpicks to securely close the seam so the filling does not pour out during the cooking process. Repeat with the other three chicken breasts.
9. Place stuffed chicken breasts on a parchment-lined baking dish or deeply-lipped pan and roast in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until juices run clear when the chicken is pricked at it's thickest part.
10. Toothpicks can be removed during the cooking process once the edges have sealed closed, or can be removed after the chicken has been taken from the oven. If leaving the toothpicks in until the end, watch them and baste with a little bit of water if they begin to char.

Fresh Tomato Salad

One of our family's favourites, and so simple (really - you can't go wrong with only four ingredients). Great on a hot summer day, as it just bathes the tongue with flavour especially if tomatoes are in season in your area.

Ingredients

• 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 ball of buffalo mozzarella
• About 15 fresh basil leaves - more or less depending on size
• A dash of extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Wash tomatoes thoroughly, quarter them and add them to your salad bowl.
2. Dice the buffalo mozzarella into small cubes - about 1cm in size works well - and add to the bowl with the tomatoes.
3. Wash the basil leaves and dry them, then rip roughly by hand and toss into the salad bowl.
4. Just before serving, splash with a small amount of EVOO and toss gently. Enjoy!

Greek-style Potatoes with Thyme

This simple recipe will make soft and rich roasted potatoes, unlike some of the more traditional dry-roasting recipes, which tend to make for tough outer skins and dry inner flesh.

Ingredients:

• 5 - 6 large white potatoes
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• The juice of one lemon
• The leaves from 5 - 6 branches of thyme

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash and dice potatoes into roughly 1 - 2" cubes, leaving the skin on. Pour the potatoes into a glass casserole dish and set aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine all remaining ingredients and use a hand blender to thoroughly combine the oil with the broth and lemon juice, as it will naturally attempt to separate.
4. Pour the broth mixture over the potatoes and stir to ensure that all the potatoes are coated in the sauce.
5. Roast in the oven for an hour and a half to two hours, stirring to re-coat the top potatoes each half hour.

Makes an excellent side-dish for Greek dishes and also complements traditional "meat and potato" meals (roast chicken, barbecued steak, etc.)

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