Easy Healthy Tzatziki

Greek Tzatziki is a delicious and versatile sauce. You can have it as an appetizer with Pita bread, flat bread, falafel, and raw or grilled veggies. Tzatziki is also a great sauce for main dishes such as grilled fish or chicken. 

Veja a receita em Português no final deste post.

There are a few variations of tzatziki (sometimes spelled tsatsiki), and almost all of them call for yogurt, cucumber, olive oil, garlic and dill. I like to add lemon juice and honey to mine and occasionally chopped fresh mint.
Using Greek yogurt makes a big difference to this recipe because of its consistency. Regular yogurt can be used as well but the result is a runny mix, unless you drain the yogurt with a cheese cloth, which I think it's too much work.

Another important step to this recipe is to remove the excess liquid of the cucumber by draining it and pressing it with your hand or with a wood muddler. I prefer the hand as you have a larger surface to press the cucumber. You will be surprised with the amount of liquid you can squeeze from a cucumber. Some people simply chop the cucumber and drain it but I prefer to grate it. I like the final consistency better.

You can use non-fat yogurt to reduce the amount of calories and cholesterol. I recommend the Nonfat Plain Greek yogurt from Trader Joe's. It has 0 cholesterol and 0 fat.

Garlic has a strong taste so you can start using only two garlic cloves and make the tzatziki. You can always add more even after all is ready. The more you crush the garlic the better. You can crush it using a mortar and pestle, a garlic crusher, a zester, or just mash it (with the side of a wide knife) and chop it on a cutting board.

If you are good in planning ahead, make tzatziki the day before you are going to eat it so the flavors will blend nicely.

Note:

Use a small spoon to remove the seeds from the cucumber.

What You Need:

•  1 English cucumber peeled, cut in half and seeded (see note below)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice - freshly squeezed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 small garlic cloves crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Variations: 
Use half tablespoon chopped mint and half tablespoon dill instead of only dill.
Add parsley.
Add 1/4 teaspoon cumin.
Use sour cream instead of yogurt.

What To Do: 

Mix all the ingredients but not the cucumber: yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, dill, honey, garlic and pepper. Reserve.

Use the coarse side of a grater to grate the cucumber.

Add salt to the cucumber and place it in a colander or sifter to drain.

Using your hands squeeze the cucumber to remove excess liquid.

Add the cucumber to the yogurt mix.

Place the tzatziki covered in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Ideally prepare it the day before.

Crispy Pita Bread: 

Cut each Pita bread in 8. 

Brush with olive oil.

Sprinkle with salt.

Bake in preheated oven at 375 F for 6 to 8 minutes.




TZATZIKI RECIPE

what you need:

• 1 English cucumber peeled, cut in half and seeded (use a small spoon to remove the seeds after cutting the cucumber horizontally) 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice - freshly squeezed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 small garlic cloves crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

variations: 
Use half tablespoon chopped mint and half tablespoon dill instead of only dill.
Add parsley.
Add 1/4 teaspoon cumin.
Use sour cream instead of yogurt.

what to do:
Grate the cucumber 
Place it in a colander and add salt. Leave it there to drain.
Mix yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, dill, honey, garlic and pepper in a bowl.
Use the back of one hand to squeeze the cucumber to remove excess liquid.
Add the cucumber to the yogurt mix.
Place the tzatziki covered in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Ideally prepare it the day before you are going to it.




RECEITA DE TZATZIKI - UMA SAUDÁVEL DELÍCIA GREGA

Você pode comer Tzatziki com pão ou torradinhas, como molho de peixe grelhado ou até mesmo como molho de uma galinha assada no espeto ou grelhada.

do que você vai precisar:

• 1 pepino grande 
• 1/2 colher de sobremesa de sal
• 1 copo de iogurte Grego natural
• 2 colheres de sopa de azeite de oliva
• 1 colher de sopa de suco de limão
• 1 colher de sopa de endro fresco picado (também conhecido como aneto)
• 1 colher de sopa de mel
• 3 dentes de alho bem amassados
• 1/4 de colher de sobremesa de pimenta branca (pimenta do reino também serve)

nota: Leia sobre o endro no Blog Alimentação Saudável

variações: 

Ao invés de usar somente endro você pode usar meia colher de sopa de hortelã picada e meia colher de sopa de endro.
Acrescente salsinha a gosto.
Acrescente 1/4 de colher de sobremesa de cuminho.
Se quiser use o 'sour cream' Americano ao invés de iogurte.


como fazer:

Descasque o pepino e corte-o ao meio em sentido horizontal. 
Retire as sementes com uma colher pequena (raspando no meio).
Rale o pepino, adicione o sal e coloque num escorredor ou peneira para que o líquido escorra.
Numa tijela média misture o iogurte, óleo de oliva, suco de limão, endro, mel, alho e pimenta.
Esprema o pepino ainda dentro da peneira, com uma mão fechada. Assim você irá retirar ainda mais o excesso de líquido.
Adicione o pepino à mistura de iogurte. 
Coloque na geladeira, coberto, por pelo menos uma hora antes de servir.

No dia seguinte fica ainda mais gostoso! 

updated 2020