meal prep: greek chicken salad with house dressing

With bold Greek flavors like lemon, garlic, and olive, it’s easy to forget you’re eating healthy with this Greek chicken salad. But I must say, the star of the show here is the amazing house dressing.

I joined the create your own salad dressing bandwagon a few years ago when I realized my favorite dressing contained lots of added sugar and few chemicals I couldn’t even pronounce. It seemed a little intimidating at first, but you usually make one big batch of dressing once and it lasts for several servings. Nowadays, we haven’t bought the bottled dressings in years. PS: my favorite balsamic dressing is already up on the blog here if you want to check it out.

My other favorite kind of dressing (I have a lot of favorites, I know) is a classic house/Greek-style vinaigrette. Like the kind at Zoe’s Kitchen. It’s light, goes with everything, and is just tangy enough to make my salad and veggies a thousand times more exciting and delicious. This doesn’t have to be refrigerated; just be sure to give a good shake before serving as the dressing separates when at rest.

GREEK CHICKEN SALAD WITH HOUSE DRESSING

• Yields: 4 salads and 16 oz. house dressing

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

• 2 large chicken breasts, sliced horizontally to create 4 thinner chicken breasts
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp. all-spice
• zest from 1 lemon
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:

• 8 cups of spring/spinach salad mix, divided
• 2 cups grape/cherry tomatoes, divided
• 1 cup of Kalamata olives, pitted and pre-sliced, divided
• 4 oz. feta cheese, divided
• Optional: thinly sliced/chopped red onion, sliced cucumber, chopped bell pepper, etc.

For the dressing:

• 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1. For the chicken: In a baking dish, combine the minced garlic, all-spice, lemon zest & juice and olive oil. Whisk to combine and add your chicken. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breast and then bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until done. Remove from the oven and allow to rest 10-15 minutes before cutting into bite-sized pieces.
2.  For the dressing: You can’t mess this up. Put all ingredients into a mason jar, secure the lid and shake it up! Don’t worry; it’ll separate into layers when at rest. Just give it a good shake each time before serving. This makes a batch for way more than 4 salads, but it’s great to have on-hand.
3. To package: place a bed of 2 cups of the spring/salad mix into each of your 4 Tupperwares. Add a layer of Saran wrap to separate the lettuce from the toppings. To each salad add one diced chicken breast, 1/4 cup of sliced Kalamata olives, 1/2 cup cherry/grape tomatoes and 1 oz. feta cheese, and any other desired toppings. Refrigerate until ready to eat and serve with the house dressing.