Tzatziki

Tzatziki is really a wonderful thing. Creamy, Greek yogurt with cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Of course, if you buy it in the store it’s filled with oil as well, but I prefere making it without myself. And then I like to add herbs; either mint, parsley or dill. When it comes the yogurt I would recommend an unsweetened plant yogurt because who wants wants unnecessary added sugar in their food? Nor do you want your tzatziki to taste like a yogurt parfait. Or maybe you do, in which case, go ahead – get the vanilla one. For unsweetened vegan yogurts in Oslo it’s a good idea to go to a store with a wider selection such as Coop Mega or Meny. Or a health food store if you feel like paying a bit more. Anyways, I use both Alpro Unsweetened Soy Yogurt and Yosa Greek Style Natural. Yosa is the best as it’s incredibly thick and creamy – just remember to stir it properly. And by the way, I have not been payed anything to mention the names of these brands, they’re simply the ones I use. Without further ado – let’s get to the recipe!

Ingredients:

150 g Yosa Greek Style Natural or 3/4 cup other unsweetened vegan yogurt

1/4 medium-large cucumber, grated

1 tiny clove of garlic*

juice from 1/4 of a lemon

a tiny pinch of salt and pepper

1-2 stalks of herbs: either mint, parsely or dill (probably best to choose one)

*Of course, you can omit this if you’d like as the raw garlic provides a rather strong intense garlic flavour (duh). Just remember that if you are one of those people who’s afraid of garlic, we can’t be friends. We just can’t. Your not eating garlic goes against my values.

Method:

1. Put the grated cucumber in a kitchen towel (cloth) and squeeze out the water (over the sink). I don’t care how good your super-duper-kitchen-paper-towels are, they will fall apart during this process. And please don’t be too thorough – I don’t want anyone blaming me for their procratination or why they came late to someone’s birthday party. Below are before and after draining pictures.

2. Next mince the garlic (if using) and chop the herbs. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and sample it. If you feel like adding more of something, now’s a good time to do so.

I find it’s usually a good idea to let the tzatziki sit in the fridge for a while so that the yogurt really absorbes all the flavours properly. And that’s it! Serve it in a wrap or pita with your favourite wrap fillings (I like falafel, tomatoes, olives, pickled onions, kale and spinach) or with some other Greek/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern dish/mezze. Or on burgers – what have you. I have now officially posted my first savoury recipe on the blog and I hope you are excited for more next week:) I tried to keep it simple by posting a recipe requiring few ingredients, little time and minimum effort. I hope you enjoy it and maybe find some cool new way to use the dip:) I have a really cool recipe for you guys on a sweet Norwegian Christmas dish, which really can be enjoyed all year round. I will try to post it during this weekend, so enjoy yourself until then!