By Jodee Weiland

Lately, I have been making more chicken dishes with a Mediterranean flavor. Recently, I did Greek Style Chicken with Spinach, Artichoke, and Feta that was a stuffed boneless chicken breast and definitely delicious. When I decided to make this new chicken dish, I wanted to make it a little easier to do for those busy days. This new dish does not have any spinach, but still has all the great flavor of my Greek style chicken, but with a lot less preparation time needed. The end result was my Lemon Chicken with Artichokes, Kalamata Olives, and Feta, and we loved it!

To begin with, this chicken breast was not split and stuffed. Because it is not stuffed, it has no spinach, and it also is easier to make when you need to get a great tasting dinner on the table fast. With this recipe, you just put your chicken breasts in a baking dish, add olive oil and fresh lemon juice, some seasonings, and finally, the toppings of artichokes, olives, feta cheese, etc. This does not take long to do. Once done, you just put the baking dish in the oven and cook your dinner. While the chicken is baking, prepare a  vegetable for a side dish. If you want potatoes, add cut up red potatoes to the baking dish and bake them along with the chicken. It doesn’t get much easier than this!

Lemon Chicken with Artichokes, Kalamata Olives, and Feta

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 to 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (or to taste)
• Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts
• 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives (more or less to taste)
• 1 small tomato sliced or 8 to 10 grape tomatoes
• 1/8 cup crumbled fat free feta cheese
• 6 red potatoes cut up (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish. Put olive oil and fresh lemon over the top of the chicken breasts. Season to taste with sea salt and ground black pepper. Then sprinkle the minced garlic, artichoke hearts, olives, tomato, and feta cheese over the top of the chicken breasts. If you decide to add the optional red potatoes, place them along the outside edges of your baking dish. Cover the baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Then remove the cover and bake for 5 minutes longer or until done.

My Lemon Chicken with Artichokes, Kalamata Olives, and Feta is both delicious and healthy! Serve this dish with a vegetable and a white wine. You have the option of adding some red potatoes to this dish, if you want a potato side as well. Whatever you decide, you will love this dish, and it really is easy to do. You get all the great flavor with less work here. So give it a try, and enjoy!

By Jodee Weiland

When I go to a Greek restaurant, I love the rich aromas that come from the kitchen. One of my favorite dishes is a baked Greek style chicken breast stuffed with spinach, artichokes, and feta. The addition of some kalamata olives to this dish is delicious. The blend of seasonings with olive oil and fresh lemon juice used to make this Greek style chicken always add a wonderful flavor to this meal. That’s why I had to create my own Greek Style Greek Style Chicken with Spinach, Artichoke, and Feta!

There are so many wonderful Mediterranean dishes in both the Greek and Italian cultures, but whenever I eat at a Greek restaurant, this dish or anything similar will always be my first choice. I do love when they do something similar using salmon or a white fish of some type as well. Greek food is so flavorful and enjoyable, that I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t love it!

Greek Style Chicken with Spinach, Artichoke, and Feta

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/3 cup marinated artichoke hearts chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach chopped
• 1 to 2 garlic cloves chopped (for stuffing)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 6 red potatoes halved
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 to 2 garlic cloves chopped (for top of chicken breasts)
• 10 pitted kalamata olives
• Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut into each chicken breast, but not through, forming a slit. Pound the chicken breast with a cooking mallet to flatten the bottom half. Combine the feta cheese, artichoke hearts, spinach, and garlic. Then take this mixture and spoon it into the fold of the chicken breast closing it with toothpicks. Place the stuffed and closed chicken breasts in the baking dish. Pour the olive oil and lemon juice over the chicken breasts.

Then place the potato halves around the sides of the two chicken breasts. Sprinkle the parsley, oregano, garlic, olives, sea salt, and black pepper over the top of the chicken breasts and potatoes. Cover the baking dish and put in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Then uncover and bake for five minutes longer.

My Greek Style Chicken with Spinach, Artichoke, and Feta is so delicious! This wonderful dish will fill your home with the rich aromas of Greek style cooking and tantalize your taste buds. Serve this dish with a nice Cabernet Sauvignon and a delicious side salad. You will love the flavors in this dish and will certainly be glad you tried it, so enjoy!