Tzatziki Sauce

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 16: Greece - Tzatziki Sauce

After yesterday's creamy red pepper walnut dip, today I have a creamy yogurt dip from Greece. Tzatziki sauce needs only 3 main ingredients -- thick yogurt, cucumber, dill and that's it you can make a delicious dip that makes pita or falafel sandwich so much better. I even ate it by the spoonfuls.

My husband has an aversion to yogurt -- he can't tell it's smell, color or texture. I enjoy yogurt based dishes quite a bit but don't make them often. Even though I was tempted to try tzatziki at home, I was never really motivated enough. So this condiments week was the perfect time to make this dip and enjoy it all by myself :-)

I saw this recipe in Cooking Light magazine on one of my trips to the library. That issue had a beautiful spread of non-cook summer sauces perfect for this week's theme. I noted the recipes down and the idea to make this Tzatziki sauce and the Muhammara came from that article.

This recipe uses some sour cream along with 2% Greek yogurt. I've never added sour cream in lieu of yogurt in raitas, but was totally surprised how creamy and tangy the dip ended up being. I'm going to try this trick in making raitas too now. 

Ingredients:

Greek Yogurt (2% reduced fat) - ⅓cup
Sour Cream - ⅓cup
English Cucumber - ½cup, finely chopped or grated
Fresh Dill - 1½tbsp, chopped
Lemon juice - 1~2tsp
Garlic - 1 clove, finely minced
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:

• Place cucumber on a kitchen towel; squeeze and remove the excess liquid.
• Combine cucumber and the remaining ingredients in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Chill for 1 hour before serving. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.
• I served it with chickpea croquettes and pita.

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