Lemon Rosemary Chicken with Tzatziki

I love knowing people with gardens.  If they have a good crop then they always have more produce than they know what to do with and that means treats for me!  I was given a bag of fresh cucumbers, but since they weren't really pickling cucs, I had to come up with something creative to do with them besides tossing them on a salad.  So my answer was tzatziki!  Which besides being fun to say (taht-zee-kee, say it with me!) it also super delicious.  If you're not familiar with it, it's a cucumber-yogurt dipping sauce that's very light and refreshing and goes great with grilled meats.

Since I always associate tzatziki with Mediterranean cuisine, I thought I'd whip up some lemon rosemary chicken to go with it.  I'm all about the bite-sized pieces and what's nice about this chicken is that you can cook it up stovetop or skewer it and cook it on the grill, either way works.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken with Tzatziki

marinated chicken
1 lb chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 cup lemon juice (juice from 3 fresh lemons)
1/8 cup olive oil
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

In a medium size bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper.

Clean and cube chicken. Place in bowl and stir until evenly coated with marinade.

Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes.

stove top

Pre-heat a large skillet. Using tongs, drop the chicken cubes into the skillet to brown. After you get some nice coloring on them, drop the temperature and continue cooking until done through.

on the grill

Skewer the chicken cubes, by themselves or with some veggies – peppers, tomatoes, onions – and cook 3-4 minutes per side until done.

marinade

Once you have removed the chicken, pour the excess marinade into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and use as sauce with meal.

tzatziki
2 cucumbers
salt
3 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp fresh dill, minced
2 tsp minced garlic

Peel and cut your cucumbers in half length-wise. Use a small spoon or melon baller to scoop out the seeds to be discarded.

Put the cucumber slices in a colander or strainer. Generously sprinkle with salt and let sit for 5-10 minutes. The salt will pull out the excess water from the cucumber. Rinse before using.

In a blender or food processor, mix together yogurt, dill, garlic and cucumbers.

Takes about 1-2 minutes, final product should have some texture to it but be well blended.