Greek Lemon Artichoke Chicken - Summer Ale

Greek Lemon Artichoke Chicken

Weight watchers points - 5/serving

Servings - 4

2 chicken breasts

1 T Greek seasoning

1 can drained and chopped artichoke hearts

4T lemon juice

4 T reduced fat feta

Olive oil cooking spray

1.       Preheat oven to 450

2.       Cut Chicken breast in half

3.       Sprinkle each side of chicken & artichoke hearts with Greek seasoning

4.       Place chicken into baking dish

5.       Pour artichoke hearts over chicken

6.       Spray with olive oil cooking spray

7.       Pour lemon juice over chicken and artichokes

8.       Bake 20 minutes

9.       Add feta over top of dish

10.   Bake another 5-10 minutes until chicken juice run clear

I made this for dinner and served with orzo.  If you are going to serve this as an appetizer or bar food serve as kabobs or in pitas.  This was simple to make and very delicious.  I will definitely be adding this to my quick week night meal list.  I considered making my own Greek spice blend, but was simply to lazy.  I decided it was good to have it on hand because we do like Greek.  The premade blends – it usually contains salt, pepper, garlic, oregano (a key component), onion powder, parsley, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme.  There are recipes online if you decide to make your own.

I am pairing this with Brooklyn Summer Ale.  I actually got the idea from another website talking about as a good pair for Greek food and they were right.  http://www.examiner.com/beer-pairing-in-new-york/beer-pairing-101-what-beer-goes-with-greek-food

Brooklyn brewery as you may have guessed is located in Brooklyn, NY.  To date Mike and I have had a lot beer from Midwest and Texas, being our home states as well as Colorado and the west coast due to vacations.  But the east has been minimal exposure.  Brooklyn Brewery is definitely one we have tried many times though.  Mike loves Brookyln Local 1, their strong pale ale which I am sure I will pair in the future.  We gave Brooklyn Local 2, their Belgian strong dark ale to a friend for his birthday and it was a big hit. 

For the Brooklyn Summer Ale, I am definitely still inspired to stink with summer beers.  It is 100+ everyday in Dallas these days and anything less isn’t refreshing enough or is simply too heavy.    This is an easy drinking beer.  It is malty with slight hops.  It definitely has a strong lemony and citrusy flavor.  This allows it to pair well with Greek food that often as that lemon flavor through it, this dish definitely does.