Making Tzatziki

We like to eat different dishes that come from other cultures and lands and then if we like them, we'll incorporate them into our menu.  The other day Tricia had to run an errand or two in Lake Charles and we met at a local Greek/Lebanese restaurant that we had never tried.  I rarely eat out and normally bring good leftovers from home, so it was exciting to go eat some good food with some good company.

 

They had a sampler lunch plate on special and we had kibbeh, hummus, chicken shawarma, tabbouleh, and tzatziki along with a glass of Lebanese iced tea.  We enjoyed it all, but the tzatziki was incredible and we wanted to try to make it at home since we've got most of the ingredients on hand.  Tzatziki is a Greek appetizer or dip that is served cold.  Let's make some.  Here are all the ingredients ready to go:


Fresh ingredients for making tzatziki

What you need:

• 1 cup drained yogurt (In our post about new wine we mentioned that in making kefir yogurt we separated the whey to use for new wine and would use the kefir for something else.  This is it!)
• 1/2 cucumber shredded
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon mint, chopped
• Salt & Pepper 

 We add the lemon juice, olive oil and garlic to a bowl. 



Pressing some fresh cured garlic

 We chop up some mint real fine.

Chopping some mint (that's taking over the patio area!)

We add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, including the strained kefir, mint, salt & pepper and shredded cucumber.  The cucumber takes a little prep work, though.  Before adding, you want to shred it, sprinkling 1/2 teaspoon of salt on top, toss, and let sit in a sieve for 30 minutes.  Below all the ingredients are added to the bowl, including the salted, strained and shredded cucumber.

Into the bowl for mixing

 Getting ready to stir all the ingredients up.

 

 

Once it is all mixed up, it is ready to enjoy.  Easy dish, huh?  We dip some baked pita chips into the tzatziki and the entire bowl quickly disappeared.



This eats good on some baked pita chips

It is a cool and refreshing appetizer, tangy, salty and delicious.  We'll definitely add this to our menu rotation.



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