Spicy Chicken Gyros

Holy moly, it's been a while since I've blogged! Life has been B-U-S-Y! In advance, please excuse the back to back posts that are about to happen today.

I recently made a trip to St. Cloud, MN for a three day long Emergency Medical Dispatch class which was hosted in Downtown St. Cloud at the Stearns County Law Enforcement Center. One day for lunch we found this delicious Greek restaurant (Greek Cravings, 26 5th Ave S, St Cloud, MN 56301) and I had one of thee most delicious Spicy Chicken Gyro's I could have ever possibly imagined consuming. If I lived in St.Cloud, this place (and my diet) would be in TROUBLE! Aaand they're open until 3 a.m. for all you bar hoppers!

It was then that, Spicy Chicken Gyro's became a food goal. I think I nailed this one pretty good! I also made a tasty, low calorie, Tzatziki Sauce.

One of the key ingredients to make these Gyros spicy is to use jarred hot banana peppers and/or any other type of hot peppers you can find. I grilled the chicken seasoned with some Kosher salt, crushed black pepper and cayenne pepper. When I'm ready to prepare the Gyro's I saute the banana peppers with some white onion, diced up chicken breast, Frank's Red Hot Sauce and some olive oil.

Saute until your onions are tender and your concoction is ready to put in your pita! For the Tzatztiki Sauce it couldn't be more simple! I use Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt, Kosher salt, fresh dill, diced up cucumber and green onion. And then I just top my Gyro with some chopped up Romaine lettuce and some Roma tomatoes.



Here's a breakdown of ingredients and instructions ...


Spicy Chicken Gyro's


Prep Time: 5 Min    Cook Time: 15 Min    Servings: 4


Ingredients

3                      Grilled Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast, Diced
1                      Medium White Onion, Sliced
3/4 Cup           Hot Banana Peppers
1/2 Cup            Franks Red Hot Sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp         Olive Oil
4 Slices             Flat Bread
2 Cups             Romaine Lettuce, Chopped
1                      Roma Tomato, Sliced & then halved              
1/2 Tsp             Kosher Salt
1/4 Tsp             Crushed Black Pepper
1/4 Tsp             Cayenne Pepper

Tzatziki Sauce

6 oz                  Plain, Fat Free Greek Yogurt
1/2 Cup            Cucumber, Finely diced
4 Tbsp              Green Onion, Finely diced
1 Tbsp               Fresh Dill, Finely chopped    


Instructions

Mix together 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper & 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper to make your seasoning for the chicken breasts. Sprinkle seasoning mixture over the chicken breasts once they are on the grill. *If you like a little more heat, feel free to add more black pepper or cayenne pepper.

In a bowl, mix together your yogurt, diced cucumber, green onion and dill. Set aside or put away in a container for later and place in refrigerator.

When your chicken is done, let it cool for about 5 minutes. Slice your white onion and add it to a skillet with your banana peppers, olive oil and franks red hot sauce. Dice up your chicken and place in skillet with your onion and peppers, medium heat. Saute until your onion has softened.


Enjoy!


*You can always make this one serving at a time and prep your onions and peppers with your cooked and diced chicken at a later time. I personally like to take these for lunches because they are filling but a super light and low calorie lunch! 
__________________________________________________________________________________


Feel free to add more Frank's Red Hot Sauce if you really like some heat!


Please let me know if you make these and what you think! I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment, send me a message, whatever your heart desires!

Until next time,


Crista

Tabouli (Trial Run)

While cooking some food for the rest of my work week last night, I had some tomatoes and parsley that were gonna be going bad soon, so I decided to try making Tabouli. I personally enjoy it with a lot of different things; on a salad, with a chicken breast, or on a pita chip for example.

Traditionally Tabouli is made with tomatoes, onion and/or chives, parsley, mint and wheat bulgur. Then seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and/or zest, salt & pepper. Some variations add garlic and lettuce. And either quinoa or couscous will sometimes be used instead of wheat bulgur.

I didn't have any mint or chives this time around and I opted out of using garlic in fear that it would be too potent. When I make it again I will definitely use chives, and maybe try a little mint and garlic.

Tabouli

First I started by getting my Wheat Bulgur cooking. This takes approximately 30 minutes to make. Follow the instructions on the packaging. 

Then while that cooked, I chopped up all my veggies, which included approximately two small bunches of flat leaf parsley, 2 1/2 tomatoes and 1/3 of a red onion.

              

Once I was done chopping all that up, my wheat bulgur was ready! Yes, it took me almost 30 minutes to chop up parsley, tomatoes and onions! You gotta make sure to de-stem your parsley, and I pitted the tomatoes so there weren't any seeds in there.

I mixed all that business together really well and then added my seasonings and juices. 

I just added the salt and pepper to taste and used about a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon and a half of lemon juice. But even the lemon juice I did to taste. Some of you may be more in to the bitter lemon taste than others.

Here's the breakdown of ingredients and cooking instructions ...

Tabouli

Prep Time: 30 Minutes   Cook Time: 30 Minutes   Servings: 2 Cups

Ingredients

2 bunches               Parsley (Flat or Curly Leaf)

2 1/2 - 3                  Roma Tomatoes

1/3                          Red Onion (chopped)

1/2 Cup                  Wheat Bulgur

1 Cup                     Water

1 1/2 Tbsp              Lemon Juice

1 Tbsp                    Olive Oil

A pinch of Kosher Salt & Pepper (add to taste)

Instructions

Bring to boil 1 cup water, then add wheat bulgur, cover, remove from heat, and let sit for 30 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Finely chop up approximately 2 bunches of parsley. Dice 2-3 roma tomatoes and approximately 1/3 of a red onion. Add all of these ingredients to a bowl.

Once wheat bulgur is tender add to bowl with vegetables and herb.

Add in your lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well.

Nutrition Information --->  Total Calories: 123  Fat: 4g  Protein: 3g

_________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you enjoy my trial run recipe! Please feel free to contact me with your thoughts, modifications or your own recipe!! I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for letting me share!


Crista