Greek Yoghurt Marinated Chicken.
This little creation came to me the other night whilst staring into my fridge, trying to decide what to make for dinner. When you're trying to eat well, so many people make the assumption that you're no longer allowed to enjoy food, thus making bland, and down-right boring dinners of chicken/fish and steamed vegetables. So I dedicate this wonder of a meal to all you diet bores. This marinade is made up of fat free greek yoghurt and coming in at just 320 calories, it's a super healthy and low calorie dinner option.
So here's what you'll need:
1 cup of Total 0% Fat Free Yoghurt
1 tablespoon of light Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 lemon
1/4 bunch of fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon of dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon of dried mint
400g of chicken breast
Let's start by preparing the marinade, and pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Measure out 1 cup of your fat free yoghurt.
Transfer this to a mixing bowl and add the olive oil, crushed garlic, oregano, and mint. Using a fine holed cheese grater or zester, scrape the thin layer of yellow zest from the lemon in the bowl, and then add the juice of 1/2 the lemon.
Stir all your ingredients, until they are well combined. Next, chop a big handful, or about 1/4 bunch of fresh parsley and stir into the marinade.
Add the chicken pieces to the marinade, then cover the mixing bowl with cling film and refrigerate. Leave the chicken to marinade for at least half an hour.
After marinating for your desired time, place your chicken breasts in a baking dish, and cover with tin foil to keep all those delicious marinade juices in. Cook for 45-60 minutes, making sure the chicken is completely cooked through. This recipe would also be great cooked on a BBQ in the summer.
Whilst your chicken is cooking away nicely, it's time to prepare your veg. I chose to accompany mine with some delicious, green veggies such as purple sprouting broccoli, green beans, leeks, courgette, and an absolute summer favourite of mine; corn on the cob.
If you prefer a healthy carbohydrate accompaniment with your vegetables, a gorgeous side dish of cous-cous or quinoa, cooked with some of the dried herbs mentioned in this recipe, along with the juice of the other half of the lemon, and some chopped cucumber would finish this Mediterranean dish off perfectly.
Once your chicken is ready, remove it from the oven and serve alongside your vegetables and other chosen accompaniments.
And there you are; a healthy, delicious, low calorie dinner, full of protein and minerals with all the flavours of the Med.
(You can thank me later.)