Greek Chicken Breasts

Hi, this recipe if from Abbeys Kitchen. I would highly recommend you look at the original recipe and blog as they are both really interesting and have lots of facts to read and learn. The recipe was super simple and easy, using only one pan!! But, I did end up using 2 as my veg cooked quicker than my chicken, which might have just been to do with the oven I have. If you have children who are a bit more fussy, like my sister, we gave her some of the roast veg to try and cheddar cheese instead of Feta. I then served the Garnish {pomegrante, feta, tzatziki, parsley and pistachios} in the centre of the table so she could try everything and add what she enjoyed; everyone else just dived straight in though! The original blog suggests serving with rice or a pitta bread; I opted for a wholemeal pitta and it was really nice. I especially enjoyed making a chicken, veg and feta pitta sandwich. Yum! Enjoy!!

Dietary Info:

-Contains Nuts {Serve without the pistachios to make it nut-free}

-Contains Dairy {Serve without feta and tzatziki/greek yoghurt and use a dairy-free alternative instead e.g Soya Greek Yoghurt }

-Gluten-Free {Unless serving with a pitta}
-Unsuitable for Vegans {To make it suitable for you, swap the chicken for a plant protein e.g chickpeas and then make it dairy-free}

-Unsuitable for Vegetarians {Swap the chicken for a suitable alternative e.g beans, pulses, Quorn ect..}

Nutritional Info:

See picture. This picture is from Abbey's Kitchen, she is a registered dietician and has a lot of wonderful recipes to try. I also love her YouTube channel, on it she posts informative videos explaining the current diet culture of lots of social media platforms and then tells you the appropriate amounts of things to eat to stay healthy and maintain a balanced diet. She is fully informed of the current science on eating and exercise from her studies of nutrition. Therefore, she is a trustworthy platform to follow if you are looking into being more 'healthy' or just have any questions in general about health and fitness.

Ingredients:

-3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts {I used 2 normal chicken breasts and one huge one halved, as that was what we had frozen}
-2tbsp lemon juice
-1tsp dried oregano {I used dried mixed herbs, this worked fine}
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1/2tsp salt
-1/2tsp pepper
-1 zucchini, diced {I ended up cutting it into circles}
-1 pint cherry tomatoes {This is equivalent to 25-30 tomatoes/275g, according to Here But, I used 20 as my tray was getting a little full!}
-1 orange bell pepper, diced
-1 yellow bell pepper, diced
-1 red onion, diced {I just sliced it lengthways instead of dicing it so that you had lots of different shapes on your plate}
Garnish:
-Pomegranate arils {For 4 people, I used half a pomegrante's worth of seeds}
-Pistachios, crushed {I used salted and roasted]
-Tzatziki, for drizzling {I didn't think it was necessary to make a whole dip and then have leftovers for ages, so I just put a blob of Greek Yoghurt on my plate.}
-Feta cheese, crumbled
-Parsley leaves {We used dried parsley as we don't have any fresh, at the moment. Still tasted fab though!}

Method:

1:In a plastic bag, mix together the olive oil, garlic, lemon, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and allow to marinate for 4-8 hours in the refrigerator. {I ended up making the marinade in a big bowl, putting the chicken breasts in there and covering the bowl with tin-foil and marinating that in the fridge because I was slightly wary of a bag leaking}                                                                   2:Preheat oven to 450℉/230℃/210℃ Fan/Gas 8. {I have a Fan oven}         3:Arrange the vegetables onto a large greased baking tray {I used a roasting tin/tray because of the lipped edges, it will catch any oil and prevent a sticky oven base} and drizzle with a few spoonfuls of the marinade {I poured all the marinade on top}. Nestle the chicken breasts in and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165℉/73℃. {My veg actually cooked faster than my chicken, so after 30mins, I took the tray out put the chicken breasts in another tray then put them back in the oven for 10mins. Then, I covered the top of my roast veg tray with tin foil, to stop it burning, and put that in the oven as well, on the bottom shelf, just to keep warm}                              4:To serve, garnish with pomegranate arils, pistachios, tzatziki, feta and parsley. Serve with pitta, if desired.