Tzatziki
Tzatziki was one of the best things about Greece. Food-wise anyway. I ate it every chance I got, and I've missed it a lot in the year it's been since I've had any. So now, with much Internet research, here's a recipe that is not by any means original; it is a melange of several others...
Ingredients:
- 16 ounces (2 cups) thick Greek yogurt
- 4 to 10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (The actual amount is entirely personal preference as to how much garlic you would like to have. In my opinion, there is NO such thing as too much garlic, but proceed with caution. The more garlic you add, the more bite it will have/the hotter it will get.)
- 1/2 cup grated cucumber (Peel and DE-SEED the cucumber first!! Use a coarse grater or a food processor if, like me, you do not possess fine knife skills.)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Peel the garlic cloves and cut off the woody ends. Pulverize the cloves as best as you can. You can mince the garlic with a knife, rub it with the tines of a fork, run it through a garlic press, or use a zester. (Or you can do the lazy, easy thing like me and buy your garlic already pre-minced!)
- Peel the cucumber. Split the cucumber in half (cut crosswise) and then again along the length of the cucumber to expose the seeds. A teaspoon or similar implement can then be used to scrape out the seeds. (Taste the cucumber! An old or not good quality cuke will be bitter instead of slightly sweet. A bitter cuke will totally ruin this recipe.)
- Cut, grate, food process one half cucumber into small strips.
- Take the chopped up cucumber and squeeze it. You can do this by placing it in a piece of cheesecloth and squeezing or simply squeeze it in your fist. (You must get as much water out of the cucumber as possible. You do NOT want to water down your yogurt.)
- Add the drained cucumber to the garlic.
- Mix the garlic, cucumber, olive oil, and lemon juice together. Stir it around a little to separate the little garlic and cucumber pieces.
- Add the garlic and cucumber mixture to the yogurt.
- Gently fold until everything is evenly distributed in the yogurt.
- Fold in salt to taste.
- Refrigerate for at least a day. (This is VERY important. After first mixing, the flavor is somewhat bland and the yogurt is slightly runny. You want to give it 24 hours for the garlic to permeate, the flavors to meld, and the yogurt to thicken back up.)
Add 1-2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh dill and/or fresh mint.
The part where I ramble:
I usually try to provide nutrition information, or at least a calorie count, but I can't so much do that with this one. It pretty much depends on what type, brand, fat content, etc. of yogurt that you use. You all know me, I'm going to choose to use fat free.
While we're on the subject of yogurt, Greek yogurt isn't really easy to find in a lot of places (including the place I happen to be). You can use regular plain yogurt, but there must be some preparation before-hand if you do. Regular yogurt is much thinner than Greek yogurt, which has the consistency of a thick sour cream.
In order to accomplish this with regular yogurt, dump the yogurt into a cheese cloth, close tightly around the yogurt, close with a rubber band, place into a colander, put colander over a larger bowl where it DOES NOT touch the bottom. Place in the refrigerator and allow to drain for at least three to five hours.
If, like me, you don't have the vaguest idea where to obtain a cheese cloth, the same effect can be achieved by putting the yogurt into a coffee filter, placing into the colander, and following the remaining steps above. It takes longer to drain in this method.
Draining will reduce the yogurt by almost half, so plan accordingly.
Serve with:
Garlic Pita Chips
Cut up raw veggies
Make your own EASY low fat yogurt