Quite some years ago I spent a summer at a monastery in Greece studying the history of philosophy. Besides sitting under the olive trees reading Plato, and listening to taped lectures (no podcasts back then) on Socrates while tanning at the beach, I would enjoy spending the hot Greek summer eves hanging out with my fellow students discussing philosophy and playing backgammon, while drinking red wine and snacking.
One of my favorite snacks would be picking up a big bowl of tzatsiki from one of the local restaurants, then sneak into the monastery kitchen and steal some fresh loaves of bread to break with it. Ever since then tzatsiki brings with it the association of hot summer eves, redwine, and great company.
Tzatsiki recipe
- 1 cucumber
- 3 clove garlic, finely minced
- ½ lemon (juiced)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 250ml/9fl oz Greek yogurt (or non-fat plain yogurt + some light sour cream)
- salt
- pepper
Grate the cucumber and squeeze as much as you can of the moisture out of it. Mince the garlic and blend with olive oil and lemon juice. Blend everything with yogurt, and taste with salt and pepper. Serve chilled as snack with artisan bread, or as side dish with grilled food. Keeps well in fridge for several days.
Today I went out to buy missing ingredients for tzatsiki and ended up buying a whole lot of fresh juicy locally grown cucumbers. Enough to make tzatsiki for an entire football team or two, so I figured I needed to find some more uses for them. I asked the great foodies at twitter for suggestions and would like to share the responses with you here:
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@LynnDuBord A flavorful & easy to make Spinach Soup for dinner uses cucumber in a refreshing way… thanks @PlanetGreen http://tiny.cc/kGQtB
- @CarlaZimmerman Cucumber and vidialia onions with vinegar, and sugar, and salt and pepper. Let set in fridge for a couple of hours. Add tomato also.
- @ChefDebbieCPC Cuke, onion & mint relish Excellent on grilled seafood or grilled lamb. Diced cukes, onion, mint, red wine vinegar, touch of jalapeno if you like heat Salt cukes first to remove excess liquid
- @Margie1110 Here r 2 of my faves: http://tinyurl.com/Zestycukes or http://tinyurl.com/CreamyDill
- @GirlsSentAway Slice cucumbers paper thin (with vidalias, if you like), add vinegar, salt, pepper and dill. Refrigerate. Refreshing salad.
- @MDTeresa A friend of mine is hungarian&makes a great salad w/cucumbers, onions, vinegar, S&P, and, i think, a little sugar. Delicious!
- @nannaro Try them lightly pickled – boil water w. vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns, remove from heat, add cuke slices, let cool completely.
- @Ganga108 i saw this last night http://tinyurl.com/m83kwp
- @NomadicMissJ http://twitpic.com/8w7e7 – @yummit How’bout a refreshing cucumber sake martini? PacificNW Chef Kathy Casey has a recipe from her Pacific Rim Party Dinner menu: http://www.portchatham.com/…
- @Podchef Cucumber & Stawberry Salad w/basil & champagne vinegar
- @womanwithawhisk I had the most wonderful chilled cucumber soup a few years ago. It was at a seminar taught by the chef at Pif in Philly
- @EatingNiagara cucumber salad? My Oma makes it a lot at this time of year.
- @missyhugs cucumber salad is my FAVE!!!
- @Englewdkitchen cold cucumber soup w/dill
I can see delicious cucumber soups and salads in my near future 