Tzatziki

To salt or not to salt, that is the question.  A lot of recipes call for salting the cucumber before using it.  What salting and allowing the cucumber to sit does is drain out some of the “water” from the cucumber and therefore, it makes the finished product thicker and creamier, especially if it’s been sitting awhile. My rule of thumb is this: if I am making it right before eating it, then I don’t salt the cucumber, because it will be gone before the unsalted cucumber can water down the yogurt. If I am making it ahead of time, I salt the cucumber and I also wait till just before serving to add the garlic since the garlic taste can get stronger the longer it sits.  Both of these things are personal preference though, as is whether you decide to grate the cucumber or dice it really finely.

The kind of yogurt I use will also affect the taste since different kinds of vegan yogurt are made from different things such as cashews, almonds, oats, etc.  Keep this in mind when choosing which Greek yogurt to use.  If you are not using Greek yogurt, then this recipe will also work, it will just be thinner and less creamy.  Either way, make sure you get unsweetened and unflavored yogurt.

Finally, I like a LOT of flavor in my tzatzili, so I tend to use a lot of garlic and a healthy helping of herbs.  Obviously, this is pretty easy to customize. And now for a quick story…

Several years ago, we went to Greece and found a lovely little place on one of the islands for lunch.  Everything looked so fresh and so delicious that when it came time to order, we went a bit crazy.

We asked for multiple appetizers, salads, and entrees, while the waiter furiously scribbled it all down.  Finally, he threw his hands up in the air and cried, “Stop!  No more.  I won’t bring you all that food.  You are ordering too much!”

Clearly, he had never seen our family eat before.

Despite our assurances to the contrary, he would only bring us so much food, and that was that.  So now I will never know what their stuffed eggplant tasted like.  Sigh.

I did, however, get to try the tzatziki, and boy, was it delicious! I, of course, came home and developed a  recipe to duplicate it.  This is the vegan version.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yogurt ( unsweetened)
• 2 cups grated or finely diced cucumber
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• 1.5 Tablespoons finely chopped mint
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)
• 2 -3 cloves garlic, minced depending on how much you like garlic.  I use 3!
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Peel the cucumbers (I used 3 pretty good sized ones), cut them in half both vertically and horizontally (easier to manage if they are not too long), and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Discard the seeds. If grating, grate the cucumbers on the large hole side of a grater and spread them out on towels to drain.  Sprinkle with a bit of salt to help get all the water out and let them sit for about half an hour.  If dicing, you can also salt them and let them sit.  Salting and sitting lets the moisture out.  Recommend this method if you are making this dip ahead of time.  If you are going to eat it right away, you can skip the salting.                                                                                                                                                                                                            
2.  Put the yogurt into a bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients, adjusting the salt.  If you didn’t salt the cucumbers previously, I’d start with 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt here and then add more to taste.
3. If you are not going to eat it right away, don’t mix in the garlic until just before serving.  The tzatziki can be made a day ahead, but don’t add the garlic until you are ready to eat it.

Enjoy!