My Big (Not So) Fat Greek Salad

Who would have thought that chicken, cheese, and veggies arranged on a plate could be so enticing and so delicious?  The key to this recipe is the dressing so don't skimp on it.  Olive oil is a wonderful heart healthy fat and ingesting it has numerous health benefits including lowered cholesterol, increasing blood sugar control, and reducing your risk of heart disease.  This is a great meal to make for company because it is really easy, inexpensive, and the cucumber ribbons trick people into thinking that you did something fancy.

Ingredients
5 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb chicken tenders*
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp thyme*
1 tsp Splenda
1 cucumber
1 smallish tomato
1/2 C green olives*
4 oz feta cheese*
salt
pepper

Directions

1. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium high.  
2. While oil is heating, sprinkle chicken tenders with salt and pepper on both sides.  
3. Add chicken tenders to hot oil.  Cook for 4 minutes, flip, then cook an additional 4 minutes.  Remove from pan and set on a paper towel to rest.  
4. Run a vegetable peeler down one side of the cucumber.  Discard the first layer of skin- it is very bitter.  Keep peeling off ribbons of cucumber until you get to the seeds, then flip the cucumber over and repeat the process on the other side.  Once you have peeled down to only seeds, discard.  
5. Slice tomatoes.  
6. Arrange cucumbers, chicken, olives, tomatoes, and crumbled feta on a plate as seen in above picture.  
7. To make dressing, add 4 Tbsp olive oil to a leak proof plastic container.  Add vinegar, thyme, Splenda, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Shake to mix and drizzle over all other ingredients on plate.  
8. Enjoy!  

This recipe makes 2 salads.  Dressing is meant to be enough for both.


*Notes on ingredients (warning: soap box moment coming):
This recipe was inspired  by a much breadier thing that I saw in a foodie magazine.  It called for fresh thyme, and squeezed lemon juice, and whole feta cheese that you crumble yourself, and a food processor, which I think is dumb.  I get frustrated with food shows and magazines because they sometimes make cuisine so much more complicated than it has to be.  Part of what I'm trying to do with this blog is provide recipes in their simplest form so that anyone can eat a varied and delicious low carb diet without breaking the bank or the brain.  I don't even own a food processor, but if I did I darn sure wouldn't drag it out when you can just add some stuff to a Tupperware and shake it.

That being said, here are the notes.

1. I hope I don't need to say this but just in case, 'chicken tenders' doesn't mean breaded frozen ones.  It means the raw chicken from the butcher section that come wrapped in plastic and Styrofoam.  
2. Thyme from a plastic jar in the spice section is fine.  I use it all the time and it is delicious.  Even the stuff from the jar has a really strong flavor that is perfect for this dish.  
3. Green olives are a great snack.  During my bartending days I used to eat them by the jarful.  You can get them in lots of varieties.  The ones I bought were stuffed with feta cheese but they also had olives stuffed with with almonds, garlic, mushrooms, and jalapenos.  Shop around and find what tastes good to you. 
4. Feta cheese can get a little pricey so check in your regular grocery store dairy section first.  My grocery store has a store brand that goes for about $3 per four ounce container.  Feta is not a cheese that I would recommend spending a lot of money on to get the higher end stuff.