Shells Filled With Chicken Mediterranean Salad

Naturally since Jane and I are budding food bloggers, we are obsessed with the food network. If you are unfamiliar with the channel, it is basically food related programs 24/7. Everything from cooking shows to games shows. It makes you hungry no matter what time of day you are watching, and we love watching it while we’re cooking or eating dinner.

They have some really talented chefs on there, and it is cool to see them transform dishes and highlight unique combinations that you may not have thought about before.

That last point is key for us. One of the things Jane and I plan on doing in 2015 is expanding our recipes to include more, “Greek inspired dishes” which we’ve posted before and are recipes that include similar flavor profiles, spices, herbs, etc., that are popular in Greek cuisine. We enjoy this because it pushes us outside our comfort zone and enables us to be pretty creative. We’re also going to be including Greek lenten friendly dishes, Greek vegetarian and vegan recipes, and introducing more Mediterranean recipes into the mix.

Have no fear however, as our overall goal still stands: Exploration into Greek cuisine. As we cook, we’re discovering a lot of crossover recipes, and learning about other Mediterranean countries that have inspired what we know as Greek recipes or what is popular in Greece. Since it’s all related, we want to offer them to you, to get a holistic exposure to Greek cooking and the Mediterranean lifestyle (which is one of the healthiest ways to live in the world).

On that note, today’s recipe is a Greek inspired, using ingredients like feta and kalamata olives. We were actually watching one of Jane’s favorite chefs on the food network, Giada De Laurentiis. In one of her episodes, she made these and Jane really loved the concept, so we had to make it. We’ve altered it a bit to fit our tastes and needs, but the stuffed shell idea is thanks to her.

These were so delicious and make a perfect appetizer. They are healthy and pack a lot of flavors. It was such a unique idea, we hope you’ll agree and enjoy making these.

Whether you’re hosting a party and needs some snacks or looking for a healthy appetizer option, these are ready to fit the bill.

Enjoy!

Kenton & Jane

Shells Filled With Chicken Mediterranean Salad

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

A delicious and healthy way to eat a mediterranean salad.

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Ingredients

• 12 jumbo pasta shells
• 1 chicken breast chopped, enough for 1/2 cup.
• -Filling-
• 1/2 hot house (English) cucumber, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped baby arugula
• 1/2 avocado, chopped
• 12 Kalamata olives, chopped
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 1 sprig thyme
• salt and pepper, to taste
• -Dressing-
• 1 teaspoon agave sweetener
• 1/4 cup Greek olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Bring some water to a boil, add chicken breast and cook for 20 minutes, or until no longer pink in middle.
2. While chicken is cooking, bring a second pot of salted water to boil, add pasta shells and cook until al dente (about 11-13 minutes).
3. Once pasta and chicken are done, drain and set both aside to cool.
4. While they are cooling, combine all ingredients listed under the filling section into a bowl.
5. In a separate bowl, combine all ingredients listed under dressing, whisk until blended.
6. Chop chicken and add to bowl with filling, mix.
7. Pour dressing into chicken bowl, mix.
8. Take a spoon full of the chicken mixture and add it to each jumbo pasta shell.
9. Serve!