Grilled Greek Salad with Chicken
In this warm-weather twist on a Greek salad, both the chicken and the romaine lettuce get a turn on the grill to infuse the dish with a warm, smoky flavor.
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Make Ahead: Prepare the dressing, marinated feta and brined chicken (through Step 2).
Finish on Site: Grill the lettuce and chicken and assemble the salad.
Pack These Tools: Grill, grilling tongs, paper towel, knife, cutting board, platter and salad tongs.
Try This Genius Kitchen Hack: Don’t toss the brine at the bottom of your feta cheese container – use it as a marinade to achieve extra-juicy chicken as we do here. No need to add additional salt, though, as the brine is salty enough.
Ingredients
- 12 oz multicolored cherry tomatoes, halved (or quartered, if large)
- ⅓ cup finely chopped red onion
- 7 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 4 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2¾ tsp ground black pepper, divided
- 1 tsp sea salt, divided
- 4 oz feta in brine (such as Greek, Bulgarian or French feta), drained, crumbled + 1 cup brine, strained, divided
- ½ tsp lemon zest + 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1½ lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 6 small romaine hearts (8 oz each), halved lengthwise
- 2–3 oz chopped pitted Kalamata olives
- ½ cup each coarsely torn fresh mint and flat-leaf parsley leaves
Preparation
- Prepare dressing: In a medium bowl, toss tomatoes, onion, 2 tbsp oil, vinegar, garlic and ½ tsp each pepper and salt. Transfer to a portable lidded container; refrigerate.
- In another medium bowl, toss feta, 1 tbsp oil, lemon zest and juice and ¼ tsp pepper. Transfer to a portable lidded container and refrigerate. In a large zip-top bag, marinate chicken with brine, 2 tbsp oil and 1 tsp pepper. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 2 hours.
- Preheat a grill or grill pan on medium-high. Brush the cut side of romaine hearts with 2 tbsp oil and sprinkle hearts with 1 tsp pepper and ½ tsp salt. Grill, cut side down, until tender and grill-marked, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
- Pat chicken dry and grill over medium-high until grill-marked and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Once cool, coarsely chop lettuce and thinly slice chicken. In a large bowl, toss lettuce with dressing and chicken. Top with marinated feta, olives and herbs.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 1/6 of recipe
- Calories 392
- Carbohydrate Content 14 g
- Cholesterol Content 114 mg
- Fat Content 26 g
- Fiber Content 5 g
- Protein Content 27 g
- Saturated Fat Content 6 g
- Sodium Content 891 mg
- Sugar Content 7 g
- Monounsaturated Fat Content 14.5 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat Content 3 g