Roasted Chicken Breast with Olives, Tomatoes and Feta

Olives are one of my favorite foods. They are great on their own, in a salad, on a cheese plate, or my personal fave - in a martini! However, last night was the first time I made a sauce out of them. The result was a rustic, pleasantly salty sauce of olives, tomatoes, garlic and shallots, which pared perfectly with some fresh salad greens, roasted chicken and creamy feta.

This dish makes a great weeknight dinner. Quick and healthy, with TONS of flavor. 

Note: you may need to add a bit more dressing to the sauce and salad than the recipe calls for, I definitely did! But then again, I'm a dressing hoarder :) 

Enjoy the long weekend everybody!

Roasted Chicken Breast with Olives, Tomatoes and Feta (loosely adapted from Cooking Light)
Serves 4

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 cup multicolored cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

3 tablespoons oil and vinegar dressing, divided (I mixed 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar for this)

20 olives, halved (I used a combo of kalamatas and french green olives) 

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 small shallot, chopped

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

1 bag of salad greens

A few handfuls of fresh basil

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Saute breasts in a large shallow pan over medium high heat with some oil, butter or cooking spray, until all sides are seared (but not fully cooked through). Then, place the chicken breasts in the oven to cook through, about 20 minutes.

While the chicken is roasting in the oven, add a little oil to the same pan you used for the chicken. Heat oil, and add in onion, garlic and shallot. Cook until soft, and then add in tomato, olives and half of the dressing. Cook a few minutes, until tomatoes and olives are soft and heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once chicken is done, add it to the sauce and cook them everything together over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, moving the chicken around so it soaks up some sauce.

Put the salad greens and basil into a serving bowl. Add the other half of the dressing, and mix.

Divide the salad among 4 plates, and top with chicken and sauce. Garnish with feta.