Recipe: Sarah's Simple Tzatziki

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Jul 24th 2007 @ 11:21PM

A few weeks ago, my friends and I got together after work to play board games (yes yes I know - how very, um, exciting), and a friend and I were charged with providing food. We were meeting rather late, so there was no need to go with full dinner fare. I decided on a few Mediterranean dips and a salad because really now, is there anything better than ripping a pita loaf into shreds when you're caught up in the excitement of Jenga?!?! Tzatziki is one of my favorites, and though I do believe it's used more as a sauce or condiment in Greek cuisine, I love scooping it up with pita bread. My Sarah-ized version is written out after the jump:

Sarah's Simple Tzatziki
Place two to three layers of cheesecloth in a fine sieve placed over a bowl. Put 2 c. thick yogurt (I know I am going to get stoned for this, but I used fat-free yogurt), fold the cheesecloth over the yogurt, place something heavy on the yogurt to help squeeze out the liquid, and let drain in the fridge overnight.

Peel and seed a large cucumber, but if you like little flecks of green inyour tzatziki like I do, run the peeler along the length of the cucumber every other turn. Grate it on the largest holes of a grater into a colander, or you can be smooth like me and use one of the fancy Japanese mandolines. Sprinkle the grated/shredded cucumber with a teaspoon of salt, and let drain. After about 30-40 minutes, squeeze the cucumber over the sink or the bowl to get out all the liquid you can.

Stir the cucumber into the drained yogurt along with 2-3 cloves super finely minced garlic, juice from half a lemon, a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. I make mine very salty. Some people add fresh chopped dill, but that's just a little too much for me.

Serve with pita bread, or if you're crazy, pita chips.

Filed Under: Vegetarian, Raves & Reviews, Ingredients, How To
Tags: america, appetizers, cheese, comfort food, condiments, cooking, cucumbers, dairy, dips, entertaining, europe, greek cuisine, greek food, GreekFood, hors doeuvres, mediterranean, middle east, recipes, sauces, simple, spices, spreads, summer, tzatziki, vegetables, yogurt

Chew on This

Royal Wedding Cake Details Revealed! - YumSugar

Make Your Own Pop Tarts - CHOW
Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Eater
Whole Foods Opening Bars in Stores - USA Today
Rules Of Bar Etiquette -- For The Bartender - HuffPost Food

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-25-2007 @1:32AM Pete said... I don't see a recipe :(
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

7-25-2007 @2:15AM Frankie said... It's in there, you just have to read the paragraphs

2 Cups Thick Yogurt
1 Large Cucumber
2-3 Cloves Garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 Tsp. EVOO
S&P to taste
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

7-25-2007 @2:54AM Brian said... If you don't like the dill that is normally in it, then try a little fresh mint instead.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

7-25-2007 @3:59PM Alexis said... Cooks illustrated recently put out a Gyro recipe with a great Tzatziki. It is close to yours, they used whole milk yogurt, and something else I can't remember. Check it out, it was an easy recipe to make (as opposed to many cooks illustrated recipes that take hours of work)
Reply