Tzatziki Salad

So I got a basic Tzatziki recipe a couple of years ago, but instead of making it as a dip, I stirred in all kinds of delicious things and put it inside of mini pitas.  Awesome, absolutely fantastic.  Also delicious if you use cucumber slices as chips and scoop up piles of it.

If you don't know what Tzatziki is, it's a yogurt based sauce with dill and garlic and lemon that you might come across in a Greek Restaurant or pita place.  It's super flavorful and surprising and wonderful.

16 oz Plain Yogurt, Greek Yogurt or Goat's Milk Yogurt
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
4 -6 minced Garlic Cloves (trust me, fresh is worth the effort)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Fresh or Dried Dill to taste

1 medium Cucumber, chopped
1 handful Sun-Dried Tomatoes, cut in small pieces
6 oz crumbed Feta Cheese
1 cup sliced or chopped Assorted Olives (I like the Olive mix from Wegmans.)

Whole Wheat Mini Pitas, Sliced Cucumbers or other chips or crackers to serve with.

To Make Tzatziki:

Combine Yogurt and Olive oil in food processor or with whisk.  Stir in Lemon Juice and Garlic and mix thoroughly.  Add Salt, Pepper, and Dill and stir again.

To Make Salad

Once Tzatziki is well blended stir in Cucumber, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Feta and Olives and mix well.


Stuff in Pitas, spoon onto Cucumber slices or scoop up with chips or crackers.

Enjoy!


Notes:

• You can use Garlic Powder, but fresh tastes SOOOO much better.  Likewise, fresh Dill is better than dried for this.
• Tonight we tried this with Smoked Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and it was fastastic,  The earthy flavor of the smoke makes a lovely counterpoint to the brightness of the garlic and lemon.
• If you don't have a Wegman's (and you really should, everyone should), you can use an assortment of green, black and kalamata olives.

How does your garden grow?

So far the garden is coming together really nicely.  After not having one at all last year, I'm especially excited.

I got the Columbus Orange Rose pruned back, big time, because it wasn't doing well, but seems to be trying to get a new start.  I got some Dusty Miller put in to fill the empty spaces in the front of the flower bed.  I picked up the trash in the yard for the 8 millionth time.

The back yard is going to take some time before you can see the difference, right now it just looks like less weeds.   But, I got 8 of my nine herbs potted.  Chamomile, Sweet Basil, Oregano, Garden Sage, Cilantro, Thyme, Lavender, Rosemary, and an empty pot left for the boys' catnip.  I planted fennel, too, but with the bulb-y nature of it, it's went in one of the rows of the garden.

I got 4 varieties of Tomatoes (Sun Sugar, Plum, Early Girl and Grape) - although, I really meant to get another Early Girl instead of the Plum.  There's 5 kinds of Peppers - Red Bell, Green Bell, Mexibell, Giant Jalapeno and Poblano.  I've got Kale behind that, and still need to add the Potatoes in the last row, before the Mint patch, on that side.

The other side of the yard has an Asparagus bed against the garage, and a pretty sad looking Blueberry bush in the corner.  Hopefully, the Blueberry bush amounts to something this year, since I'll have the time to give it a lot more love than last year.  Along the fence, I've put in Zucchini and Pickling Cucumbers.  The front row is my Fennel and some Rapini.

Two more rows need to be planted, the Looseleaf Lettuce and Sweet Mesclun in one and Sugar Snap Peas and Green Beans in the other, but the desire for lunch and a need to rest my back won out over finishing the last 2 rows today.  I'm also considering garlic and onions in large pots.

I'm really excited about my garden this year.  Dave is really looking forward to homegrown veggies, and while he has expressed a refusal to weed, I know he'll help me with what I need him for.  I've finally got good humus from my compost bin that I've working in as I go.  It's gorgeous and dark and it's got a couple earthworms living in it, so it should do good things for my veggies.

Wish me luck!