Ecstatic and Weary

I have returned! Well actually, I returned over a week ago (on the 17th), but it has taken me this long to dig my way out from under a huge pile of email, mail, dishes, and laundry. It blows my mind how fast everything piled up while I was trekking the globe.

Speaking of which... I love Greece! There was never any doubt in my mind that I wouldn't love it; I just love to travel. Period. Still, I loved absolutely everything about Greece- the food (for sure), the people, the language, the sites, and the landscapes. I would say the only thing I could have done without would have been the protesting, but even with that- I think it perfectly highlighted the pride and will of the Greek people.

To celebrate my return, I want to share one of the culinary highlights from my Greece trip- Tzatziki! Tzatziki is a traditional Greek sauce or dip that is made of yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, garlic, and fresh dill. This sauce is well known in the States as a topping for gyros, but I think it tastes best paired with warm, crusty bread. Not that I would know or anything, but it also tastes great on french fries (I promise, I am sticking to my new, healthy lifestyle-- I am at 63 pounds lost!)

Opa!

Tzatziki

Ingredients:

1 pint Greek yogurt

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ medium cucumber, finely shredded

1 Tbs red wine vinegar

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp table salt

The ingredient ratios are flexible with this recipe. Start with 1 pint (470 mL) Greek-style yogurt, 2 cloves garlic, 1 medium cucumber (we'll actually only use half a cucumber), 1 tablespoon (15 mL) red wine vinegar, and 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.

The amount of garlic used in this recipe is up to your taste. I suggest starting with the two cloves and adjusting to taste when you make tsatsiki in the future.

Peel the garlic cloves and cut off the gross ends. Mash the cloves as best as you can.

Peel the cucumber. Split the cucumber in half (cut crosswise) and then again along the length of the cucumber to expose the seeds. A spoon can then be used to scrape out the seeds. Whenever I work with cucumbers, I always cut a little bit and taste it before I add it to a recipe. If a cucumber is old or not good quality, it can taste bitter instead of slightly sweet and refreshing. Grate one half of a cucumber.

Cucumbers contain a lot of water, which we don't want to introduce to the Greek-style yogurt. To remedy this, take the chopped up cucumber and squeeze it. You can do this by placing it in a piece of cheesecloth and squeezing. My favorite method - squeeze it in your fist. You can also put the cucumber in a colander, sprinkle it with salt and let it sit for half an hour.

Then, add the drained cucumber to the garlic.

Mix the garlic, cucumber, olive oil, and vinegar together. Stir it around a little to separate the little garlic and cucumber pieces.

Put the yogurt in a container large enough to stir in the garlic and cucumber mixture without making a mess.

Add the garlic and cucumber mixture to the yogurt.

Stir until everything is evenly distributed in the yogurt. Stir in salt to taste. I found that 1/4 teaspoon table salt was a good amount.

This step is really important - refrigerate for at least a day. Right after mixing the yogurt, the Tsatsiki is a bit runny and somewhat flavorless (it just tastes like the yogurt). After refrigerating for a day, the garlic flavor permeates the thickened Tsatsiki.