Wednesday Morning Wasabi Tzatziki

I work the late shift on Monday and Wednesday. This means I don’t have to come into work until 2:30, but have to stay until 11:00. As I live by myself, even sans animals, I have no problem with this work schedule. In fact, I love it because it means that on Mondays and Wednesdays, I either go out to lunch, taking full advantage of the cheaper version of dinner entrees, or make myself a more indulgent lunch. Today, I made tzatziki sauce.

In general, tzatziki is a yogurt-based sauce from Greece/Turkey. It consists of cucumber, yogurt, salt, and garlic. Other flavors usually include pepper, olive oil, lemon, dill, parsley, and mint. The sauce can vary in consistency from paste (much like a hummus) to a particulate liquid (like tomato juice) Tzatziki is usually served with gyros, pita, or other standard Greek fare. Personally, I like to use it in lue of ranch dressing in both salads and in a crudités platter. Like hummus, you can find it in both mainstream and specialty grocery stores, but if you ask me, they are over-priced and not as flavorful as making it yourself. Especially when it’s this easy!

I always say that cooking is an art, baking is a science. To that end, most recipes you find here do not have ingredient measures. I almost never cook with a recipe; rather, I taste everything as I go, letting my tongue dictate the dish’s components.

First thing is first, you need strained yogurt. You can buy Greek yogurt, which has a higher protein value and is much thicker than normal, but that, like the finished sauce, is also overpriced. Just take some plain yogurt (fat content is up to you), wrap about 1.5-2 cups in a paper towel or cheesecloth, put that in a strainer, and let it sit for about 30 min, or until liquid stops dripping off. You can leave it longer in the fridge if you want a thicker sauce; just make sure your yogurt doesn’t pick up any funky odors. It will look something like this:
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 Next, take 1 big cucumber (or 2 smaller ones), the strained yogurt, some salt, and a garlic clove, and throw it all into a food processor. Again, if you want a really thick sauce, you can strain the cucumber first. You can also peel the cucumber if the peel is too bitter for you.

At this point, my recipe opens to interpretation. Add whatever floats your boat. Need a little brightness? Add lemon. Really like garlic? Roast a few cloves to lessen the bite but keep the taste (and cancel your date that night). Want a more garden vegetable flavor? Add parsley and/or dill (fresh is always best). Me? I added some wasabi paste. The bite from the wasabi added great color and a wonderful punch. This is how it came out:

Now all I need is some lamb. Mint jelly? Pfft! Pass me some wasabi tzatziki!