Greek Marinated Chicken Salad

Tis the season of baking all the things, then eating salads to try to balance out the chocolate cake at my house! I was gifted some gorgeous cucumbers from the person I buy eggs from, and had a few tomatoes left from my last farmer's market pick up. Combine that with some thawed chicken breasts, and a container of leftover tzatziki sauce and these beautiful salads were born!

The chicken comes out so tender and flavorful from the delicious marinade, and it all works together for a delightfully refreshing, crisp meal that won't weigh you down. If you love tzatziki sauce as much as I do - definitely give it a try as your dressing. Deliciously creamy!

We had a couple leftover chicken breasts after enjoying these salads for dinner, and I combined those with some oven roasted squash for dinner the next night - gotta love quick and easy meals that are half made for you!

Greek Marinated Chicken Salad

Ingredients
3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

Marinade ingredients
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 TBS minced garlic (jarred)
2 TBS dried oregano
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad ingredients (per salad)
2-3 cups washed and chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 large tomato, diced
1/2 medium cucumber, diced
2 TBS feta cheese
2 TBS halved pitted Kalamata olives, optional

Tzatziki Dressing
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cucumber, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS minced garlic (jarred)
1/2 tsp dill
1 tsp oregano

Directions

1. If you plan to use the Tzatziki dressing - combine those ingredients in a small tupperware and allow to refrigerate while your chicken is marinating, to give the dressing time to meld. If you find the consistency a little bit too thick to enjoy as dressing, thin with a touch of additional lemon juice, or a little bit of milk, if desired! 
2. Combine all marinade ingredients in a large tupperware and whisk to combine. Lay the chicken into the marinade, coating both sides. Allow to rest at least 6 hours to overnight.
3. Grill or roast your chicken - we roasted as it was raining this day, so I cooked my chicken at 375 degrees until it was fully cooked through and registered 160-165 degrees on a meat thermometer; it took about 45 minutes as I had fairly thick chicken breasts.
4. Allow chicken to rest while you assemble the number of salads desired.
5. Slice your chicken and place about half of a breast over the top of each prepared salad.
6. Drizzle with tzatziki dressing or your favorite Greek vinaigrette and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Foodie Crush