Mother's Souvlakia with Tzatziki

The chicken in this Cooking Light recipe is quite good, but it's the tzatziki that makes everything delicious. Trust me and double the amount of tzatziki you make so you can drizzle it all over your chicken and some pitas toasted on the grill, too. It's so freakin' good.

All hail the mighty Tzatziki!

Mother's Souvlakia
Marinade:
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 32 bite-sized pieces

Skewers:
1/2 red onion, cut into 8 (1-inch) pieces
1/2 large green bell pepper, cut into 8 (1-inch) pieces
8 button mushrooms
8 large cherry tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
Tzatziki Sauce

To prepare marinade, combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; add chicken. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 3 hours; turn occasionally.
Prepare grill.

Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Thread 4 chicken pieces, 1 piece each red onion and bell pepper, 1 mushroom, and 1 tomato alternately onto each of 8 (10-inch) skewers. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

Place kabobs on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 12 minutes or until chicken is done, turning once. Serve with Tzatziki Sauce.

(Totals include Tzatziki Suace.)

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 skewers and 2 tablespoons tzatziki sauce)

CALORIES 143 (31% from fat); FAT 4.8g (sat 0.9g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 16.5g; CHOLESTEROL 35mg; CALCIUM 69mg; SODIUM 277mg; FIBER 1.7g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 8.5g

Tzatziki

1 cup finely chopped seeded peeled cucumber
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (8-ounce) carton plain low-fat yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation
Place cucumber in a colander over a bowl; sprinkle with salt. Toss gently to coat. Cover and chill 1 hour. Rinse with cold water; drain well. Squeeze until barely moist.
Spoon yogurt onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a bowl using a rubber spatula.

Combine cucumber, yogurt, parsley, and remaining ingredients in a bowl. Serve with Mother's Souvlakia.

Yield
1 cup (serving size: 2 tablespoons)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 21(29% from fat); FAT 0.6g (sat 0.3g,mono 0.2g,poly 0.0g); PROTEIN 1.5g; CHOLESTEROL 3mg; CALCIUM 53mg; SODIUM 91mg; FIBER 0.1g; IRON 0.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 2g