Grilled Greek Chicken Kebabs With Mint Feta Sauce

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces
1/2 small red onion, quartered lengthwise, layers separated
2 T. olive oil
1 t. dried oregano
3 T. red-wine vinegar
1/2 c. feta, crumbled
1/4 c. plain yogurt
1 c. fresh mint leaves, packed

Directions:
In a resealable plastic bag, combine chicken, zucchini, onion, olive oil, oregano and 2 T. vinegar; season with 1/2 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper. Marinate at room temperature 30 minutes
(or refrigerate up to overnight).
Heat grill to medium; lightly oil grates. Onto each skewer, thread 3 pieces of chicken with zucchini and onion. Grill skewers, turning occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, 12-14 minutes.
For the sauce, blend feta, yogurt, mint and remaining tablespoon vinegar in a food processor until smooth. Serve kebabs with dipping sauce.

Makes 4 servings. Total time 1 hour with marinating.

Verdict:
I thought that these were just OK. The chicken was good but nothing to write home about. I did really like the onions though. I also think that this would taste better with a tzatziki sauce.

Tex-Mex Turkey Burgers With Zucchini Salad

For the zucchini salad:
2 T. vegetable oil
3 medium zucchini or yellow squash, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
3 T. lime juice
coarse salt and pepper

For the burgers:
1 1/2 lb. ground turkey
2 t. chili powder
4 oz. sliced pepper jack cheese
4 slices country bread, halved
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
store bought salsa for topping

For the salad:
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Let zucchini salad marinate at room temperature for 15 min. (or refrigerate up to 1 day.)

For the burger:
Preheat grill.
Form turkey into four patties. Using your thumb make and indentation in center to prevent burgers from rounding on top. Sprinkle patties with chili powder and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the patties are cooked through out.
Top burgers with cheese. Continue to grill until cheese has melted. Meanwhile grill bread until lightly charred. Place burger on a piece of bread top with avocado, and salsa. Serve with zucchini salad.

Makes 4 burgers. Total time 30 min.

Verdict:
We ate these burgers open faced with toasted french bread. I enjoyed them quite a lot. Turkey good. Jalapeno cheese good. Avocado good. We ran out of propane in our grill so I had to cook them on the stove top in a skillet but they still were delicious.

Shrimp and Zucchini Tostadas

Ingredients:
4 burrito sized flour tortillas
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 c. shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
2 zucchini, quartered length wise, thinly sliced
salt and pepper
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/2 c. sour cream
3 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Place tortillas on large baking sheets and brush with olive oil and top with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and tortillas are crisp, 3 to 5 minutes.
Heat oil in large skillet.
Add zucchini and garlic, season with salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring frequently, until zucchini is crisp tender.
Add shrimp and cook until shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Stir in lime juice.
Spoon shrimp mixture over tortillas and top with sour cream and green onions.

Makes 4 servings. Total time 25 minutes.

Verdict:
I made the shrimp and zucchini part of this then realized that we didn't have any tortillas. Ooops. So we ate it plain with rolls on the side instead. I think it would be really good on some tortillas with cheese.

Chicken and Marinated Zucchini Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 zucchini, sliced into ribbons
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. lemon zest, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. chicken breast, pounded thin
fresh parsley
1 loaf Italian bread, halved horizontally and hollowed out
1 handful almonds, toasted
romaine lettuce


Directions:
Slice zucchini using vegetable peeler.
Combine with onion, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and let stand 30 minutes.
Season chicken with salt and pepper and broil until cooked through. Let cool and then shred. Add to marinated zucchini mixture with parsley and almonds. Make sandwich using chicken mixture and romaine.

Makes 4 sandwiches. Total time 30 minutes

Verdict:
I was a little leery about these. The chicken was good. The sandwich as a whole was OK. If you happen to have all of the ingredients on hand than go for it. But I wouldn't go out of your way to make these.

Gnocchi and Garden Vegetables

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 zucchini or summer squash, quartered and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 package frozen gnocchi (15-16 oz.)
1/4 c. basil, chopped
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated
1 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. lemon juice

Directions:
Heat oil in large skillet.
Add zucchini and garlic season with salt and pepper.
Cook stirring occasionally, until crisp tender about 4 to 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook stirring until juicy. About 2 minutes.
Boil large pot of water and cook gnocchi according to package directions.
Reserve 1/2 c. cooking liquid. Drain and add to skillet.
Toss gnocchi adding enough liquid to create sauce. Remove from heat. Add basil, Parmesan, butter, and lemon juice.

Makes 4 servings. Total time 30 minutes.

Verdict:
We were suppose to have BBQ Chicken Pizza tonight for dinner but I realized that our cheese grater is packed somewhere. Lets face it...I will buy a new one instead of trying to find the old one.
I have never had gnocchi before so I was a little excited and a little nervous. I looked down all of the frozen isles at Walmart to try and find gnocchi frozen. No luck. I had seen it before with the pasta at a grocery store in Vegas so I figured it was the same here and lucky for me it was. I bought the kind that is in a plastic container and vacuumed sealed. For me this meal cooked super quick. I actually had to slow it down some so that it would be ready right when Blake got home. I thought it was good. I liked the zucchini and the sauce. I didn't have any grape tomatoes so I just used chopped plum tomatoes. I also added more Parmesan. I think both of those changes were good and if you are going to make this I would recommend adding more cheese. The gnocchi was a little heavy for my liking. At $3 dollars a package I thought it was good but if I was being frugal I would just use penne instead.