Mediterranean Night: The GOOD, the GREAT and the AWESOME

I have struggled with my weight for at least the past 8 years...yep, if you do the math, I started losing the battle with weight loss right around the time that I had my son, Nolon. I say started only because up to that point, it's not that I didn't gain weight, but because post-Nolon, I stopped being able to lose it at will. Then Jade came along and all bets were really off.   However, for the past couple of years I have explored almost every diet that you could possibly think of. Everything from rapid loss methods to so-called "lifestyle changes" and nothing worked, at least not permanantly. All of them had one thing in common, I am picky and I refuse to eat bad, bland, and boring food on a long-term basis. Then, late last year, I finally mastered the art of substitution and the true meaning of clean eating. Simple changes like:

• Subbing butter for olive oil or cooking spray
• Using squash instead of pasta noodles
• Exploring new spices and combinations of flavors to go from bland to flavorful
• Theme nights to get away from boring baked chicken and vegetables

One of the fun menus I most recently cooked was a Mediterranean themed baked chicken dinner with all the fixings. Here's all the recipes you'll need to take a trip to Greece without leaving your kitchen. Plus an added bonus at the end, the shopping list with tips on items you will want to stock in your pantry moving forward. 

Prep It

I always find meal prep to be a huge time saver when I get home late and have an hour or less to get dinner on the table before it gets too late.  Here's a few things that you are going to want to do either a day ahead or before you dive into the cooking process.

• Wash and chop about a half a bunch of flat leaf parsley
• Thaw approximately 30 chicken wings (my method is to put the correct portion in a bowl in the sink in the morning before heading off for the day).
• Check your pantry and make sure you have oregano and greek or italian seasoning on hand
• You will also need dried McCormick Lemon peel seasoning or a good zester so you can zest a couple of lemons
• Mince your garlic if you don't have the already minced garlic
• Chop your cucumbers and tomatoes, these can be stored in the fridge separately overnight
• Make the balsamic reduction by heating 1 cup of balsamic vinegar and 1 tbls of granulated sugar over high heat.  Once it boils, reduce heat to medium heat and simmer for 30 mins. Remove from heat and let cool. It will thicken as it cools.  This can be stored in an airtight container overnight.  This recipe makes about 1/3 cup.

Mediterranean Chicken 
A friend of mine posted this on FB and I added the "Jazzmyne" touch to make sure the fam would love it. The serving size for this is 4 adult portions and 2 kid portions. I always like to make enough for us to have lunch the following day. It makes the whole eating clean at lunch process so much simpler. 

What Goes In It 

• 30 chicken wing drumettes, slightly thawed
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 1/3 cup Balsamic Reduction
• 1 tbls Dried Oregano
• 1 1/2 tbls Dried Greek Seasoning
• 2 tbls minced garlic
• 1/4 cup  finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper (I used about 1 tbls of each, but is really to taste)
• 1 tbls McCormick Dried Califonia Lemon Peel

How to Make It

1. Combine oil, balsamic reduction, dried herbs and parsley in a bowl and stir.  Add 1/2 the lemon peel.
2. Squeeze lemon, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and mix.
3. Sprinkle about 1 tablesppon each of salt and pepper to wings.  Toss to coat.
4. Add wings to marinade mix and coat them well.
5. Place in a baking tray.
6. Drizzle remaining mix on top. Then sprinkle with the remaining lemon peel.


7. Bake in the oven for 20-25 min on each side at 400 F.
8. If the chicken doesn't fully crisp up, you can put them under the broiler on high for about 10 minutes per side but watch closely so you don't burn it.

Lemon Peel Roasted Potatoes 
Roasted red potatoes are my go to side carb when I want to eat clean without feeling like I didn't get enough to eat. This recipe is a Jazzmyne original :-).

What Goes In It

• 1 lb small red potatoes, diced into 1/8ths
• 1/8 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
• Juice of half small lemon
• 1 tsp lemon peel or lemon zest

How to Make It

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and toss to combine, making sure that all potatoes are evenly coated.  Pour out onto a a baking sheet.  Bake at 400 F for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are golden around the edges and a fork can be inserted easily.

Jazzed Tomato & Cucumber Salad

This is just a fancy cucumber and tomato salad with a few extra ingredients to make it interesting. I used a recipe I found online as inspiration to give my traditional c&t salad a makeover.  If you add the pita bread, this makes an awesome healthy snack too!

What Goes In It

• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 1lb English cucumber, cubed
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup Newman's Own Olive Oil Vinaigrette (this can be omitted if you want to add a little more olive oil and lemon juice)
• 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
• Handful of finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 tsp McCormick Dried Lemon Peel
• 4 green onions, finely sliced or diced red onion

How to Make It
Toss all ingredients in a small bowl until vegetables are well coated.  Refrigerate until ready to serve dinner. Serve with toasted whole wheat pita bread or pita chips.

Once you are all done, I promise you will have a healthy flavor packed meal that even your kiddos will eat.  I meant to take a picture of the aftermath but the kids uncharacteristically cleaned up their plates before I could.  You'll have to settle for my pre-eaten picture I snapped with my phone before we dug in.

Extra Tips/Shopping List

What You'll Need

• Individually frozen chicken drumettes or wings
• Red potatoes
• 1 English cucumber
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• DriedMcCormick California Lemon Peel
• Flat leaf parsley
• Green onions or red onions

What You Should have Stocked  (this section is meant to help you build your pantry/fridge so you can become a Gourmet Mommy just like me :-))

• Dried Oregano
• Dried Greek Seasoning
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt
• Black Pepper Grinder
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Granulated sugar
• Lemons
• Newman's Own Olive Oil Vinaigrette
• Minced garlic or garlic cloves

Tips

• You should use a non-stick pan for the potatoes and add just a touch of cooking spray
• Don't pour all the marinade in the pan with the chicken since it will release it's juices during the cooking process.  Too much liquid=soggy chicken
• Seed the tomatoes when dicing to cut down on the juice and making your salad to watery

Happy Cooking!

~the Gourmet Mommy aka Jazzmyne