Today we wanted something light and easy so when I asked the husband what he wanted he said grilled chicken. Easy enough. Looking in the fridge for anything to go with the grilled chicken and I see spinach, red bell pepper, tomatoes, and lemons. I checked to see what pasta I had and found rotini. This was going to be the best grilled chicken ever.

2 chicken breasts
3 vine tomatoes
1 roasted red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
3 cups spinach
3 tablespoons fresh basil
6 oz black olives (preferably pitted Kalamata)
6 oz feta cheese
14 oz rotini pasta
1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons Mediterranean oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Start Cooking the pasta according to the directions. Then flatten the chicken and season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Heat pan with olive oil and cook chicken.


Rinse spinach and set aside. Cut tomatoes, red bell pepper and chop the garlic and basil.


When the chicken is almost done add the spinach and tomatoes. You want to just warm the tomatoes and have the spinach wilted, about three minutes.


When pasta is done drain and put it into a nice size bowl. Add the olives, feta cheese, basil, and red bell pepper to the pasta. Take the chicken out of the pan and cut into bite size pieces. Add chicken, tomatoes, and spinach to the pasta then add the juice of one lemon. Mix all together and serve. You can add more salt and pepper to taste.

My friend from Russia came over for dinner and made this salad. It was the best Greek salad I'd had in a long time. We had such fun drinking Greek wine and talking about astrology, she's big into that. My friend moved back to Russia recently and I miss her terribly. she is such a funny character and I just miss hanging out with her.

I love greek salads. They're simple and tasty. Greek foods main seasoning are olives, garlic, lemons and herbs, which I've always been partial to. I'm slowly getting my kids to like this salad and they'll eat it as long as I take it easy on the lemons.


3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic—minced
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and extra for garnish
3 tomatoes—cut into wedges
¼ red onion—sliced into rings
½ cucumber—sliced into thick half-moons
½ green pepper (capsicum)—julienned
4 oz (120g) feta cheese—cut into small cubes
16 kalamata olives

PLACE the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano in a small jar with a screw-top lid and shake to combine. PLACE the salad ingredients in a large bowl. POUR the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine just before serving. Garnish the Greek salad with a little freshly ground black pepper.

I'm always trying to find ways to put feta cheese in my food. So when we attended a dinner party at my friend Cindy's house and she served brown rice with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and golden raisins, I thought it would taste even better with feta. I went home and started working on a recipe. I think I could have used a little more feta but the husband and kids seemed to think it turned out just fine the way it was. They aren't as big a fan of feta as I am. I had lots of leftovers which I ended up eating for lunch several days in a row.

2 cups of cooked (steamed) brown rice
3 cups cooked spinach
1 cup of finely chopped green onion
1 cup of seedless golden raisins
1/2 of sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers
5 oz. fat free feta cheese
10 tablespoons Red Wine Vinaigrette


Cook the rice and spinach separately. Set aside and let them cool once they're done. (1 cup of uncooked brown rice yields a little more than 3 cups of cooked rice) In a large bowl, combine rice, spinach, feta, raisins, sun-dried tomatoes(red peppers), green onions, making sure everything is evenly distributed. Add the red wine vinaigrette and continue to stir, ensuring even distribution.