"Janet" > wrote in message
...
> For a change of pace, last night we had...
>
> Boneless, skinless chicken breasts pounded then marinated while the
> rest of the meal cooked in olive oil, lemon, Greek oregano, S&P, and
> garlic. They were then grilled.
>
> Roasted vegetables (Red peppers, thick red onion slices, and zucchini
> tossed with olive oil and Penzey's Mural of Flavor blend, which is
> similar to herbes de provence. Green beans would have been better than
> zucchini, but didn't have any, alas.)
>
> Tzatziki sauce (1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt, 1/3 European cucumber
> seeded then shredded on a microplane, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 minced
> shallot, 2 Tbs minced fresh dill, 1 Tbs red wine vinegar, S&P, about
> 1-2 Tbs of olive oil)
>
> I hadn't made tzatziki before, although I've had it in restaurants,
> and of course I've made various sour cream cucumber sauces. It's
> definitely a keeper, and I'm thinking about other things to pair it
> with. A great way to give a meal some succulence and zip without many
> calories and carbs!

My pairings: over white fish, dip for raw veggies, over steamed veggies,
with spiced, minced (ground) lamb kebabs (middle eastern type spices in
the lamb). And of course over grilled prawn skewers (I like to use lemon
juice in the tzatziki for seafood).

Ozgirl wrote:

<snip>

>> I hadn't made tzatziki before, although I've had it in restaurants,
>> and of course I've made various sour cream cucumber sauces. It's
>> definitely a keeper, and I'm thinking about other things to pair it
>> with. A great way to give a meal some succulence and zip without many
>> calories and carbs!
>
> My pairings: over white fish, dip for raw veggies, over steamed
> veggies, with spiced, minced (ground) lamb kebabs (middle eastern
> type spices in the lamb). And of course over grilled prawn skewers (I
> like to use lemon juice in the tzatziki for seafood).

I was actually thinking about using lemon juice in the future instead of
vinegar, and omitting the shallot. I started out using a recipe in a
magazine that did NOT include garlic, but did include shallot and vinegar.
We tasted it, and said "Something is not quite right!" We then looked it up
on the internet and I added the garlic and olive oil: much better. I doubt
that the shallot is really necessary. Interestingly, some recipes use mint
instead of dill.

What spices do you use in the lamb?

"Janet" > wrote in message
...
> Ozgirl wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>> I hadn't made tzatziki before, although I've had it in restaurants,
>>> and of course I've made various sour cream cucumber sauces. It's
>>> definitely a keeper, and I'm thinking about other things to pair it
>>> with. A great way to give a meal some succulence and zip without
>>> many
>>> calories and carbs!
>>
>> My pairings: over white fish, dip for raw veggies, over steamed
>> veggies, with spiced, minced (ground) lamb kebabs (middle eastern
>> type spices in the lamb). And of course over grilled prawn skewers (I
>> like to use lemon juice in the tzatziki for seafood).
>
> I was actually thinking about using lemon juice in the future instead
> of vinegar, and omitting the shallot. I started out using a recipe in
> a magazine that did NOT include garlic, but did include shallot and
> vinegar. We tasted it, and said "Something is not quite right!" We
> then looked it up on the internet and I added the garlic and olive
> oil: much better. I doubt that the shallot is really necessary.
> Interestingly, some recipes use mint instead of dill.
>
> What spices do you use in the lamb?

Pretend you are making meatloaf and put in finely chopped onion and
garlic to taste then add cumin (powdered) and chopped mint. You can add
an egg and some breadcrumbs or not, I have done it both ways. On a
skewer its best to have some binder. Add salt and pepper and squish
together with hands and taste the raw mix to see if flavour is right and
bbq or oven bake.

My first husband many years ago worked for a Lebanese family and they
always invited us over on weekends. The meals were based around lots of
raw veggies especially Lebanese cucumbers, raw celery and carrot sticks
and cherry tomatoes. All the kids gorged on these, it was their way of
life, very healthy. They used lamb a lot, often had a lamb on a spit for
lunch on the weekends. I have never been able to get the seasonings to
taste as good as theirs. One dish was raw meat with lots of seasonings
and onions. Actually quite nice There was always flat bread,
tabbouli and hummus no matter what was served.