Mediterranean Chicken

kiwidutch's Note:

I love any dish with feta and olives. Read the ingredients, makes your mouth water! We love it! Not for the "seasoning challenged" palette. Please note: this is an adopted recipe and having now made it, I can say that the family are very pleased that it's come here to stay, I used a small stick blender to blitz black olives with a tiny bit of olive oil instead of shop bought tapenade and omitted the capers (only becuase I hate capers, but DH loves them so will put them on his portion in future), and if you like olives and feta like we do then you'll enjoy this recipe. ZWT REGION: Greece.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 4 tablespoons black-olive tapenade
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup store-bought salsa, drained (preferably fresh)
• 1 (5 ounce) bag baby spinach
• 4 tablespoons capers (optional)
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine feta and tapenade in a small bowl.
3. Rinse chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. With a sharp knife, make a 2-inch slit in thickest part of each chicken breast half to form a pocket.
4. Using a spoon, stuff some of the feta mixture into each pocket. Season chicken with pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side.
5. Transfer to baking dish and bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil and salsa in skillet over medium heat until warmed through, about 5 minutes.
7. Add spinach and cook, tossing frequently, until barely wilted, about 1 minute.
8. Place spinach and salsa on individual plates, top with chicken, and sprinkle with capers, if desired. Serve lemon wedges on the side.

Reviews

[CraftScout]

This was really nicely balanced flavorwise. I liked the way the salsa spinach tasted with the chicken. I did as you suggested and made my own tapenade and left out the capers (I don't care for them, myself). Thank you for posting, made for ZWT4.

[Chef floWer]

I grew up on olive and feta cheese and I love all the ingredients in this recipe including the capers. I followed the recipe as is, except I picked up the wrong olive tapenade from the supermarket it was olive spread. The olive spread was a little more chunky instead of smooth but it was very similar tasting. I squeezed the lemon over the chicken when I was serving the dish instead of using them as a side garnish. Thank you kiwidutch