Recipe Redo: Chicken Gyros

A few years ago I made these chicken gyros all. the. time. They were a staple on our dinner table and for good reason - they're delicious. It had been a very long time since I made them and since the photos I took back then weren't exactly stellar, I figured I'd revisit this old favorite and update the photos.

Unfortunately, I still didn't get a great shot of these but they're still better than the old photos. I served the gyros with roasted potatoes liberally seasoned with oregano. I loved dipping the potatoes into some of the leftover tzatziki sauce. Yum.

Chicken Gyros
As seen on Elly Says Opa!

4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 1/4 lbs. chicken breast, cut in half lengthwise
salt and pepper
1 cup tzatziki (see below)
sliced tomatoes
sliced red onion
4 pocketless pitas or flatbread

Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, and oregano in a bowl. Add the chicken and rub the marinade in. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the chicken to the hot grill pan and cook for 5 minutes. Flip over and cook for 4 minutes. Remove to a cutting board and allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before slicing into strips.

While the chicken is cooking, heat your pitas. If you have a gas stove, turn on a burner to medium heat. Spray the pitas with a little bit of oil and cook them right on the burner for a few seconds per side.

Top the pita with some of the chicken, tzatziki, tomatoes, and onions. Roll up and eat. Be careful, they're messy.

Tzatziki
1 cup plain greek nonfat yogurt
1/2 a small cucumber
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small garlic clove, minced
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Put the yogurt in a bowl. Peel the cucumber, then cut it in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Grate it over the large holes of a box grater. Place the grated cucumber in a clean kitchen towel and ring out the water over the sink. Add the cucumber to the yogurt, along with the other ingredients. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasonings, as needed. Chill before serving.

Recipe Redo - Taco Rice

I first made this Taco Rice in January 2012 and felt it needed a bit of work. The original recipe didn't have any sauce and that's a big no-no in this house. I was craving tacos but wanted something slightly different. Time for a recipe redo!

The result: delicious. This was perfect. I had barely finished eating and was already thinking about when I could make it again. The tweaks I made - adding tomato paste, salsa and sour cream to the beef mixture - were just what we wanted. I also decided to add some frozen corn, mainly because I'm on a corn kick lately and thought the little kernels would be nice in the dish. I also added crushed tortilla chips for a bit of crunch and texture and they provided the perfect, salty accompaniment.

Something to note - there's no oil in this dish. I've been saying it a lot lately but my friend Melissa has worked hard to cut oil out of most of her recipes. Ground beef is perfect for this method since the beef has plenty of fat already in it. If you add the onion and garlic to the pan at the same time as the beef they all cook together beautifully (and then there's no need to drain off the fat later). I've loved cutting unnecessary calories from our diet.

UPDATE April 2014 - new picture I posted on Instagram:

Taco Rice
Modified from Cassie Craves

1 onion, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup sour cream,
4 cups steamed rice
Toppings: shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheddar

Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ground beef and saute until the onions are soft and the beef is cooked through, breaking the beef into small chunks as it cooks. Add the cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and tomato paste. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes. Combine salsa and sour cream and stir into the ground beef.

Spread 1/2 to 1 cup of the steamed rice on each plate. Top with the seasoned beef. Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, crushed chips and cheese.