Mediterranean Spring Bowls

This was a delicious dish that absolutely hit the spot. When you look at the recipe and start panicking about the amount of lemon and garlic it calls for.... take a deep breath and take my word for it - it isn't too much. But be forewarned - it ends up tasting quite strongly of garlic and you will want to cut back if you aren't a big fan.

The only thing that we changed was the amount of rice to rice mix ratio. We tried it out exactly the way the recipe says and decided it was just a little too strong so we added some more rice.

This recipe is definitely more labor intensive because of the amount of vegetables you have to cut up. But it is worth it. And it is a great, healthy dish that is perfect for a summer night. Next time I will probably leave out the beans - the texture just gets to me every time.

The picture and recipe are courtesy of Favorite Family Recipes and can be found at this site here: http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2011/06/mediterranean-spring-bowls.html

MEDITERRANEAN SPRING BOWLS

Adapted from Favorite Family Recipes

1 bottle Lawry’s (or any) lemon pepper marinade
2 chicken breast halves
lemon pepper
1 onion, diced
1 medium-sized zucchini, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 c. garbanzo beans
12-15 cherry (or grape) tomatoes
feta cheese

For the rice:
1 1/3 c. long-grain, white rice
2 2/3 c. water
3 Tbsp. olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 tsp. lemon zest (or to taste)
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed (add more if you dare)
1/2 tsp. pepper
salt (to taste)

Marinate chicken breast halves in lemon pepper marinade for at least an hour (sealed tightly in a plastic Ziploc bag works best). Remove chicken and discard marinade. Place chicken in a 9x13 glass baking dish and sprinkle with lemon pepper on both sides. Bake at 350-degrees for about 35 min or until juices run clear and chicken is completely cooked through. While chicken is cooking, heat a little bit of oil in a large skillet. Add diced onion, zucchini, bell pepper, and garbanzo beans. Saute until onions become clear. Add tomatoes and saute an additional minute or so until tomatoes become hot.

Chop up cooked chicken into smaller pieces (at the restaurant they cut up the chicken into little cubes.. I would normally do that too but for the sake of a prettier picture I cut the chicken into strips) and stir in with sauteed veggies.

For the rice:
Cook rice with water according to package instructions (or in a rice cooker). After the rice is cooked, combine remaining ingredients (from olive oil on...) and pour slowly over rice while fluffing with a fork. Add more lemon juice a little at a time if needed.

Put a scoop or two of rice on a plate (or in a bowl). Add sauteed veggies and chicken (at White House Grill, they just kind of toss everything together and put it over the rice, I know the picture above is more layered.. I just did that because I thought it looked prettier.. it all tastes the same..) Top each bowl with about 2 Tbsp. feta cheese (or to taste).