I’ve tried for several years to make the traditional lamb gyros at home, but I always come up short; the at-home version never tastes nearly as good as what you’d find at an authentic Greek restaurant, or from a street vendor for that matter.  So, I’ve thrown in the (dish) towel on the lamb version for now, and make my gyros with chicken instead.  This version is pretty darned good, I have to say.  Five out of five members of the DamFam love them — even No Thank-You Boy, who doesn’t like a da’gum thing these days… so that says a lot!

The prep work here is minimal, but the flavors are big – the chicken is marinated for a short time in a simple blend of olive oil, cumin, garlic, and oregano.  After a quick trip under the broiler, we’ll layer on a creamy yogurt feta sauce, top it with some crunchy cucumbers, lettuce, and tomato, then wrap it all up in a warm, fluffy pita.  I’m famished, aren’t you?

As for a side dish, I’m going to toss together a simple veggie roast of Yukon Gold potatoes and fresh asparagus.  We probably don’t need much of a starch since there’s bread in the main course, but I have half a bag of Yukon Golds hanging around, and I need to use them up.  Because honestly, allowing good potatoes go to waste is a travesty, any way you slice it.  Also, this blogger never met a potato dish she didn’t like.

Actually, I’ll retract that.  This blogger despises her mother’s German Potato Salad.  Just keepin’ it real…(and I do apologize, Mom … the rest of your cooking is stellar)!

And by the by, if anyone has a good lamb version of gyros they’d like to share (like say, if you’re a certain reader whose family owns a lamb and veal business), feel free to chime in.  You know who you are!

Enjoy!

CHICKEN GYROS WITH YOGURT FETA SAUCE
Serves: 4

Source:  The Deen Bros. Cookbook by Jamie & Bobby Deen, and Melissa Clark.  Pp.178-179.

• 1 ½ lbs. chicken cutlets, sliced in half lengthwise ** see note below **
• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed, more if you’re big on garlic
• 1 t. dried oregano
• 1 t. ground cumin
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 container of plain yogurt (Dannon is on sale), or Greek yogurt
• 2 oz. crumbled feta cheese (Athenos brand is on sale)
• ¼ c. minced red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 ½ T. chopped fresh dill
• 2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice (fresh, please – we’ve had this discussion)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 4 slices pita bread (I love and adore Kangaroo Brand), warm
• Shredded romaine (on sale)
• Diced tomato and sliced cucumber for serving

In a large bowl, place the chicken, oil, garlic, oregano, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste; toss to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, feta, red onion, garlic, dill, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.  Set aside to chill until serving time.

Preheat the broiler.  Spread the chicken cutlets on a baking sheet.  Broil 6 inches from heat for 6-8 minutes, flipping halfway through the cook time.

To serve, divide the chicken, sauce, lettuce, tomato, and cucumber evenly among the warmed pitas.  Fold and serve.  Pass additional sauce at the table, if desired.

** NOTE ** to make the cutlets, place a chicken breast on a work surface and carefully slice it in half horizontally, forming two thin slices of chicken, then cut the slices in half top to bottom to form four long pieces, gosh I hope that makes sense!)

ROASTED POTATOES & ASPARAGUS WITH PARMESAN

Serves:  4

Source:  Epicurious.com

• 1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1” pieces
• 1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1” pieces
• 3 T. olive oil
• 1/3 c. Parmesan cheese (I’m using the shaved Parm’ that’s on sale this week)

Preheat the oven to 450.  Place rack in upper third of the oven.

Toss together asparagus, potatoes, oil, and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large shallow baking pan, spreading evenly.  Roast, stirring once, 20 – 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese and roast until cheese is melted and golden in spots, about 3 minutes more.

It’s like the Wonder Bread of the produce department, isn’t it?  The red-headed stepchild?  Seriously, I don’t know of a single self-respecting foodie who would ever serve it at her dinner table.  Something about it just screams “1978”, when all our mothers served us salads of iceberg lettuce and Wishbone dressing, ala Carol Brady.

Happily, we’ve all grown up to expand our salad horizons.  Thanks in part to well stocked grocery stores (like Sendik’s, naturally), it’s easier to try a wide variety of more exotic greens like spicy arugula, bitter endive and raddichio, and gourmet mixed baby lettuces.

Lest poor, lowly iceberg go the way of the eight-track, there are still some instances where a substitution just won’t do…a hunk of crisp iceberg on a BLT for instance, or finely shredded iceberg on taco night.

Here is my absolute FAVORITE use for iceberg:  as a holder for these delicious Chinese Lettuce Wraps.  The leaves add the perfect crunch, and are sturdy enough to stand up to the savory ground chicken filling.

A quick tip about iceberg:  if you bought a head earlier in the week, and despite its charming cellophane wrapper, it’s gone a little floppy on you (hate that!), just fill a mixing bowl with ice water, cut off the root of the lettuce, and immerse the head in the water for an hour or so.  Drain it off and give it a good spin.  The cells of the lettuce will have plumped themselves up with the chilly water, and voila – your iceberg will be revived!

No need to thank me, I live for this stuff.

CHINESE LETTUCE WRAPS

Serves: 6

Adapted from SAVEUR.com

• 1 ½ lbs. ground chicken (regular or breast meat, or a combination of the two)
• 3-4 large shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and finely diced (very finely, and your kids will never even know they’re in there!)
• 3 scallions, finely chopped, plus additional sliced scallion for garnish if desired
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. oyster sauce
• 1 T. sherry
• 1 t. cornstarch
• ½ t. sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 T. vegetable oil or peanut oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can diced water chestnuts, drained
• 16-20 iceberg lettuce leaves
• 1 can crunchy rice noodles for serving (optional, but kids adore them!)

Place the ground chicken meat into a large bowl along with the mushrooms, and scallions.  Combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sherry, cornstarch, sugar, salt and pepper in a small bowl, pour over chicken.  Mix well.  Let stand 15 minutes (mine went for about an hour and it was fine).

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add garlic and water chestnuts, cook and stir for  a few minutes.  Add the chicken mixture; cook, stirring and breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, about 5-8 minutes.  Transfer to a serving platter, surround with lettuce leaves.  To serve, spoon the filling in to the lettuce leaves.  Garnish with rice noodles and chopped scallion if desired.

By the by, we loved these wraps tonight with steamed jasmine rice and boiled edamame on the side.  ENJOY!