Telly's Greek Salad With Chicken

The area in Florida where I'm originally from has a pretty large Greek community. I have lots of fond childhood memories of a little, local, Greek restaurant named Telly's Family Restaurant that my family and I would eat at quite a bit. Everything was really yummy at Telly's, but the two things I remember the most was their one-of-a-kind garlic bread and fresh Greek salad. It is literally now 20 years later, and I still get cravings for their bread and salad! I have not been able to duplicate the bread, but I did manage to make a very close facsimile of their Greek salad for our dinner tonight. The only changes I made from the original dish as I remember it, was that I omitted the mound of potato salad that is served in the middle of the salad (ummmm...a decadent, but calorie-laden, creamy surprise) and added Greek-seasoned chicken breast strips. I didn't measure any ingredients or spices, so I would recommend just topping your salad with what you like and the amounts that suit your tastes. I am pretty pleased with my attempt at this copycat recipe and can now somewhat satisfy my yearning for Telly's food.

Telly's Greek Salad With Chicken

Ingredients:
For the chicken:
2 chicken breasts
paprika
garlic powder
dried oregano
dried basil
dried thyme
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 lemon, halved

For the salad:
2 heads of Romaine lettuce, chopped
handful of kalamata olives, pitted and halved
red onions, thinly sliced
1 fresh, good-quality organic or heirloom tomato, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
whole jarred pepperoncini peppers, drained
fresh Italian parsley, chopped
good quality feta cheese, crumbled
Greek-seasoned chicken breasts, cooked and cut into strips (see below)
Greek Vinaigrette salad dressing (recipe below)
1/2 cup of potato salad (optional)

Directions:
For the chicken:
Heat oven by turning broiler on high. Place chicken breasts on baking sheet and sprinkle with desired amount of each spice indicated. Drizzle with olive oil. Rub and turn the chicken on the baking sheet with a pair of tongs to make sure all sides of the chicken are coated with the seasoning mixture. Squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon over the seasoned chicken (reserve the other 1/2 of a lemon). Cook under the broiler for 7-9 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked. Remove from oven and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes. Cut into strips and squeeze the other 1/2 of the lemon over the chicken strips. Set aside.

For the salad:
Layer all salad ingredients onto a big plate. (If opting for the potato salad version, place a scoop of potato salad on the plate first and then layer the salad on top of it.) Top with Greek Vinaigrette dressing, serve and enjoy!

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Greek Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Adapted From: weightwatchers.com

Ingredients:
1/4 cup(s) white wine, dry-variety
1/4 cup(s) fresh lemon juice
1 medium shallot(s), minced, or more to taste
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp olive oil, extra-virgin
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp parsley, fresh, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine wine, lemon juice, shallot, sugar, and mustard; slowly whisk in oil. Whisk in herbs, salt and pepper. Yields about 4 teaspoons per serving.




(This is the salad dressing.)

The Result:
Really good...enough to give me a Telly's fix!!!