Souvlaki Kebab

Souvlaki is a wonderful food that is made with cubes of meat. Depending upon the local it can be very small bits of meat up to 1″ cubes. The meat, traditionally lamb, it marinated in lemon and olive oil and Mediterranean herbs and spices and finely skewered on wooden sticks and cooked over coals.

Souvlaki can be a hand food or plated for dinner. As a sandwich it is usually served wrapped in a pita with a salad like a Gyro and served with sauces and fried potatoes. When plated as a dinner the Souvlaki are served with rice and a Greek Salad.

Today, as taste change pork, beef and chicken are commonly used to create the Souvlaki. The skewers of meat are served with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and Tzatziki sauce and very often with fried potatoes and rice. The marinade will vary with the cook and can range from lemony to garlicky, heavy on the oregano and sometimes thyme. Once cooked the Souvlaki are seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

The first time I enjoyed Souvlaki was at a Greek Festival in Southern California and the tender lemony chunks of chicken were served wrapped in bread with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and hommos. It was delicious!

My Souvlaki are marinated in a combination of olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice to which I have added a mixture of ground garlic and fresh oregano. I like to use chicken and so I only marinate for a couple of hours, if using lamb I would marinate over night.

Souvlaki is a wonderfully easy and deeply satisfying meal to make. The high satiety value is achieved by the liberal use of garlic, black and red peppers and finally by using a finishing salt which clings to the tongue a bit.

This Souvlaki is destined to become a sandwich filled with the makings of a Greek Salad. Because I want to keep this a low fat, very good for you meal I will serve the sandwich with oven fried potato wedges and Garlic Sauce.

Souvlaki Recipe Ingredients

• 1 pound Chicken Breast, cut into 1" cubes
• 1/2 cup Virgin or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Juice of two Lemons, freshly squeezed
4 to 6 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried Oregano
• Salt and Black Pepper

Method

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes; pour olive oil into a bowl; squeeze juice of two lemons into bowl with olive oil; chop garlic cloves and place into bowl with olive oil and lemon juice and add dried oregano and red peppers; Stir well. Add chicken to marinade and allow to marinate for 2 – 4 hours. Place marinated chunks of chicken onto skewers and liberally salt season with salt and pepper; grill for about 6 minutes per side or until internal temperature reaches 165° fahrenheit. Serve as a sandwich with Greek Salad and garlic Sauce or with rice as a main dish. Bon Apetito!