I’m back!! I got back from my amazing European holiday early Friday morning. In my jet lag state, I almost forgot Saturday was Plaid & Paleo’s 1st Anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been a year: 210 posts and 150 original recipes later. Plaid & Paleo started as a way to keep myself accountable and turned into so much more. In the last year, I’ve devoted everything I have into this blog. I love creating new recipes and sharing my ramblings.
Thank you to everyone who put up with my numerous vacation photos on Instagram and my super slow responses. I’m still responding to comments! I’m so sorry it has taken me so long but I didn’t have good access to internet for the last two weeks. Also somewhere along the way I realized I needed to live in the moment. I put my phone away and just enjoyed the fact that I was in Europe! I still can’t believe I was away for a month. I kept calling this my “once in a lifetime” trip, but I quickly realized there is no way I’m not going back to Europe. From the food to the culture to the history, Europe is an amazing place with so much to offer.
If you weren’t following along on IG, I’ll give you a little reader’s digest version of my trip. I started my trip off in London for a couple days. From there I crossed the English channel into France and headed into Paris. Paris is truly the city of lights. Seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the night sky was simply incredible. After Paris, I visited Switzerland, Munich and Austria. Crossing over the mountains, I headed south into Italy and visited Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome and Pompeii. I ate my weight in pasta and gelato with absolutely no regrets! Next came the part of the trip I was most looking forward to… Greece. In Greece, I had the time of my life stopping by Corfu, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Ios then back to Santorini. Greece was a dream come true. I discovered my love of cucumbers, Santorini cherry tomatoes, Santorini capers, fava dip, tzatziki, gyros and tomato balls. Okay I pretty much loved all the food in Greece especially Santorini. Expect lots of Greek food in the coming weeks on the blog.
I ate a lot of gyros while I was in Greece and always with extra tzatziki. I became an almost connoisseur of gyros. Some gyros were meh while others I will be dreaming about for weeks. One thing I found strange was every gyro I ate also included french fries in the wrap. Actually all of Europe seemed to be obsessed with fries! Fries were a staple side for almost every meal no matter how casual or fancy. Anyways back to gyros. The best was a tie between two places in Santorini. Lucky’s Souvlaki and one I’m still trying to find the name. Lucky’s edges out the second slightly with it’s spicy paprika! Since it’s just me, roasting a giant inverted pyramid of meat then shaving pieces off didn’t seem like a good options to recreate my favorite gyro. I decided on kabobs and couldn’t be happier with the results. Even better is the tzatziki! I was worried it would taste coconut-y but my sister actually thought I used sour cream!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb chicken tenders, cut into 1-in pieces
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 2 tbls lemon juice
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp marjoram
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 large green bell pepper, cored and cut into 1-in chunks
- 1/2 red onion, cut into 1-in chunks
- 1 large zucchini, cut into 1/2-in slices then cut in half
- Olive oil, for grilling
- 1 large cucumber, peeled, deseeded and shredded
- 14 oz can coconut cream, popped in the fridge
- 2 tbls lemon juice
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbls fresh dill, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Directions
- Put cucumbers in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and sprinkle with sea salt. Let sit for 30 minutes. This helps remove the liquid from the cucumbers.
- In a ziploc bag or tupperware container, combine coconut milk and all spices. Mix in chicken and let marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Soak 10 wooden skewers in water. This will help them not burn while grilling.
- After the cucumbers have set, use paper towel or cheese cloth to squeeze out all the liquid from the cucumbers. You should be left with about 1/3 cup of cucumber pulp.
- Remove coconut cream from fridge and scoop scream off the top into a bowl. Add in all other ingredients including the cucumber. Gently stir to combine then return to fridge.
- Turn outdoor grill to medium heat.
- Alternate pieces of zucchini, chicken, onion and bell pepper onto the skewers.
- Brush grill with olive oil. Grill kabobs for about 3-4 minutes on each side turning them three times. Continue to brush kabobs with olive oil in-between turning.
- Serve with chilled tzatziki sauce!
Enjoy!
x vanessa
This excites me so much! I used to live next door to a Greek chef and he would deliver numerous traditional dishes each week! And every delivery came with assorted Greek dips and sauces! I attempted tzatziki awhile back, but it was just meh… I can’t wait to give this recipe a go!
I hope you love it! I just got back from Greece and it definitely sufficed my tzatziki craving!
This looks delicious! And I can’t wait to try it… However, I’m not sure how putting the zucchini in a sieve is going to help dehydrate the cucumbers;) Hehehehe
It just acts as a device to let the zucchini breath while the salt works its magic. The salt actually draws out the moisture that you then ring out with the cheese cloth or paper towel!
Lol. I was just teasing you. I mean in step one. Shouldn’t it be put the cucumber in the sieve with salt so the cucumber dehyrates?
We made this last night and it was a big hit. It will be a regular thing for us. Thanks so much!
OMG thank you so much for catching that! Even when I reread posts things still slip through. I’m so happy you liked it!
I love all the recipes you post. I’m going to make the Chicken Gyro Kabobs. I am glad I found your blog!
Thank you so much!!
Hi! I am going to attempt this amazing looking dish tomorrow night!! I have a question, in the sauce it calls for coconut cream , if I used coconut milk is that the same thing?
I am so excited to try this out, thanks for sharing!!
They are very similar. You just want to make sure you coconut milk doesn’t have any strange ingredients or it won’t separate properly when you put it in the fridge. You will want to make sure to just scoop out the hardened cream and none of the remaining coconut water!
I DREAM of chicken kabobs! DREAM OF THEM! 🙂 And now you have me DROOLING!
Ahh thanks!! I dream of them too! Makes me want to go back to Greece!
If I want to attempt this recipe in the oven, what temperature should I use and for how long? Thanks! & thank you for the recipe, it’s getting made for “Our Big Fat Greek Wedding” movie night.
Hi Camille,
That sounds so fun! I would cook this at 450 for 10 minutes then flip and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Definitely check the chicken for doneness before digging in because these are just suggestions.
-Vanessa