Tzatziki Chicken Salad

One of my more embarrassing secrets is the frequency with which I order takeout for dinner. For many reasons (I’ve got a limited budget / it’s less healthy / I need to fill this real estate with more than desserts and drinks / etc.) I really should be making most of my meals in my closet-sized kitchen.

While it’s slightly more acceptable for me to order pad thai, since I won’t be making that in my kitchen any time soon, the most pathetic of my Seamless Web go-to’s is a Greek salad from a diner around the corner. Yes, I have salads delivered to my home. I’m the worst, I know.

And I don’t even feel that bad about it. The romaine is crisp, the oregano-marinated feta crumbles are awesome, the gyro is always tender and they always give me extra olives. But let’s be honest, what I get really excited about is warm pita and glorious (GLORIOUS.) tzatziki. This Greek yogurt sauce, which usually includes cucumbers, dill, lemon juice and garlic, is refreshing — tart and bright and creamy. It’s a perfect pair for pita, for carrots, for celery, for cucumber sticks, for crackers … you can see where I’m going with this.

So, when faced with leftover yogurt, a cucumber, some dill (somehow, I always have dill, feta and olives in my fridge. It’s a little weird.) and a lemon, I knew what I needed to make.  While thinking of ways to bulk it out into a full meal, my brain traveled back to the early days of this blog, when I tried to make a mayo-less chicken salad using Greek yogurt.

Thankfully this time, I didn’t have to try to make my own tzatziki chicken salad recipe up, since Cooking Light had done all the work for me. For once I actually planned ahead, cooking my chicken the night before, so that it was cooled and ready to be shredded the next day. The rest of the recipe takes only as long as it takes you to chop a shallot, a cucumber, some dill and a clove of garlic. So, seconds 15 minutes.

The end result is kind of perfect — cool and crisp and delicious, especially over a bed of salad greens. It’s pretty healthy to boot, and a great summertime lunch. Don’t take my word for it; you should definitely make this one yourself!

Tzatziki Chicken Salad
Adapted from Cooking Light

– 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used fat-free, but any fat level would work)

– 2 small shallots, diced finely

– 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

– 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

– 1 cucumber, diced (squeeze the pieces to remove excess water)

– 1 garlic clove, minced

– 2 cups skinless, boneless chicken breast, cooked, cooled and shredded into bite-size pieces

– 1/4 cup crumbled feta

– 1/2 cup olives (chopped, if desired)

1) Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Serve on top of salad greens, with a side of pita. (Alternately, you could use the pita and salad greens to make a sandwich.)