artichoke

Healthy Mediterranean Chicken Bake

Even though I love the process of cooking and will happily embark on a recipe that I will know will take hours, there are some days where I just don’t want to. I want to come home and have dinner ready for me, or at the very least ready for me to pop in the oven with very little prep work. And although rewarding in other ways, I have found Paleo cooking rarely meets that criteria. There are so many ingredients to prep and various stages of a recipe to make up for the lack of gluten, dairy, etc.

That is exactly what inspired this Mediterranean Chicken Bake. It’s low maintenance with little prep work and can be made ahead of time if needed. It basically consists of lots of delicious veggies, chicken breast, and a mixture of herbs and spices. All I had to do was chop up the veggies and chicken and toss them together in a baking dish then bake until everything is nice and roasted.

I used a combination of artichoke hearts (I used frozen), onion, broccoli, tomato, bell pepper, and mushrooms. And for the spices I mixed lots of garlic with basil, oregano, paprika, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper with some olive oil and lemon juice. I also topped it all with some pine nuts, but for those who want some extra flavor and are not afraid of a little dairy, some feta cheese would be amazing with this!

Healthy Mediterranean Chicken Bake

Of course you could bake your chicken and veggies separately, but then you would have another dish to clean, and nobody wants that. I love cooking everything together because then all the flavors meld together and chicken stays nice and moist.

This would also be a great dish to make ahead of time. I would mix everything together in the dish and the stick it in the fridge until it’s ready to be baked. That was I could immediately come home and toss this in the oven. Which is exactly what I need after a long day at work!

Paleo Mediterranean Chicken Bake

I would also recommend serving this over rice or quinoa if that’s on your diet. Since I made thing while I was on the Whole 30, I couldn’t, but I will be making this again soon and adding some quinoa on the side to soak up all the delicious flavors!

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I personally love spinach artichoke dip, but have you seen some of the ingredients in it? Mayonnaise, sour cream, and tons of cheese. No wonder it is so delicious.It is terrible for you! But that is what inspired me to make something a bit healthier for our college football watch parties (Sic ‘Em Bears!). I decided to make a kale artichoke dip that is lightened up with Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese.

I was fully prepared to make this dip with spinach, but I had a lot of left over kale so I thought I would give that a shot (but this recipe can easily be used with spinach instead). I sauteed the kale in a bit of olive oil with some garlic and salt. I added the kale and artichokes to a food processor to chop up a bit. I then used the food processor to help me mix in the Greek yogurt, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and spices. That way I don’t have to dirty another bowl.
Kale Artichoke Dip 3

I transferred the mix to a small cast iron skillet (or you can use any baking dish) and topped with a bit of cheese just for the cheesiness that makes spinach artichoke dip so wonderful.

After baking just long enough to get all the flavors to meld together and the cheese to get ooey and gooey (about 20 minutes), I served it to my eager husband (after taking pictures, of course) with some pretzel chips. My husband LOVED this dip and could not tell that it was “healthy” or lightened up. He was not excited about the substitution of kale, but in the end, he could barely tell the difference. Honestly, if I didn’t tell you there was kale in it, you would never know. It tastes just like your favorite spinach artichoke dip, but with a thicker consistency.

I hope you try this and love it as much as we do!

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