If there was one region in the world that I had to eat in every day for the rest of my life, I would be happy eating Mediterranean! With all the garlic, lemon, salt and fresh herbs, everything is always DELICIOUS when it’s done Greek!
Tzatziki sauce is a traditional sauce including greek yogurt, cucumber, salt, olive oil and lemon. It is so good with plain pita bread, on top of quinoa or in a Greek Lemon-Pepper Chicken Wrap! This is a super versatile and healthy sauce that you can flavor up even just some plain grilled chicken or veggies.
For this Cook It Healthier Greek Tzatziki sauce, I decided to add a fun twist (and extra flavor) by using radishes!
I think the next time I make this sauce, I may not squeeze out all the liquid in the radishes as much because then they will turn the sauce to a beautiful light pink color. And who doesn’t love pink sauces?
You’ll see this in the directions below, but you have to really squeeze out all the extra liquid in the cucumbers and radishes to make sure your sauce doesn’t get too runny. Which actually turned out to be a fun process! If you need to work out a stressful day, then squeezing the sh*t out of these veggies will be just the stress reliever you’re looking for!
After you wring out all the extra liquid, then the rest of this recipe is a breeze! However, I will warn you that the flavors get better and better over time, so I would give you the tip of trying to make this at least an hour ahead of when you need to serve it with a dish. The flavors will have time to marinate together the more fridge time you give the sauce.
Alright, here’s what you came for! The recipe is below and here’s what you will need for this recipe:
Wash the English cucumber, cut in half and then slice one of those halves lengthwise. Now you will need to scoop the seeds out of the middle. I used a melon baller for this part and it worked really well!
Now you will dice up the cucumber into very small pieces. Place them all in a strainer over a bowl and season with 1/2 tsp. salt. Leave set for 45 minutes so the salt can extract some of the moisture.
Once the cucumbers have set out for 45 minutes, you can place them in a cheesecloth if you have one handy or just use a paper towel to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You can see here how much liquid I got out!
Next, grate the radishes finely and then squeeze them in the cheesecloth or paper town to remove excess liquid.
After all the veggies have all the moisture removed, you will combine the yogurt, lemon juice, dill, garlic, salt, olive oil and pepper in the bowl with the cucumbers and radishes. Then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before enjoying, though you don't HAVE to do this part. All the flavors get better and better the more time they marinate in the fridge though!
xoxo Ashley
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the English cucumber, cut in half and then slice one of those halves lengthwise. Now you will need to scoop the seeds out of the middle. I used a melon baller for this part and it worked really well!
Now you will dice up the cucumber into very small pieces. Place them all in a strainer over a bowl and season with 1/2 tsp. salt. Leave set for 45 minutes so the salt can extract some of the moisture.
Once the cucumbers have set out for 45 minutes, you can place them in a cheesecloth if you have one handy or just use a paper towel to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You can see here how much liquid I got out!
Next, grate the radishes finely and then squeeze them in the cheesecloth or paper town to remove excess liquid.
After all the veggies have all the moisture removed, you will combine the yogurt, lemon juice, dill, garlic, salt, olive oil and pepper in the bowl with the cucumbers and radishes. Then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before enjoying, though you don't HAVE to do this part. All the flavors get better and better the more time they marinate in the fridge though!
I love this sauce! I recently fell in love with Mediterranean food myself. I’ve pinned this post and also the lemon rosemary chicken salad, yum!
Yay! Hope you enjoy both these recipes. I just love the fresh flavors of Mediterranean food! Hope you enjoy, Leslie!