Nonfat Tzatziki Food

EASY TZATZIKI

Steps:

• Grate the cucumber by hand on a box grater, as you would grate carrots. Squeeze the cucumber with your hands to remove a lot (but not all) of the liquid. Place in a medium bowl and stir in the yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice, vinegar, dill, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Serve cold or at room temperature.

TZATZIKI

Steps:

• Line a strainer with a clean kitchen towel and place over a bowl. Grate the cucumber on the large holes of a box grater. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the cucumbers and toss together by hand. Put the salted cucumber into the towel lined strainer and let sit for 10 minutes. Use the kitchen towel to squeeze out any remaining moisture.
• Stir the cucumber, Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in a medium bowl until combined. Gently fold in the dill and mint. Serve drizzled with more olive oil.

AUTHENTIC GREEK TZATZIKI

Steps:

• Stir together olive oil, vinegar, and garlic in a bowl and let sit while you prepare the cucumber.
• Peel cucumber and cut in half lengthways; scrape out all the seeds. Grate cucumber with a cheese grater into a sieve set over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Strain out as much liquid as possible by pressing down in the sieve with the palm of your hand. Alternately you can wring cucumber out in a clean tea towel. Add cucumber and yogurt to the garlic mixture. Mix until well combined and season with salt to taste.

TZATZIKI

Steps:

• Drain yogurt for 1 hour in a cheesecloth-lined strainer to remove some of its water. In a bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt over the grated cucumber and drain, 10 to15 minutes, to extract excess water. Add drained cucumber to yogurt, along with pepper, and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with mint leaves. Serve with pita triangles or grilled fish.

SAUTEED SALMON FILLET WITH TZATZIKI AND WARM LENTILS

Steps:

• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Coat the bottom of another smaller saute pan with olive oil.
• Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper on both sides. When the large saute pan is screaming hot but not quite smoking, lay the fish fillets in the pan skin-side down. Place the small saute pan directly on top of the fillets; this applies gentle pressure to the fish and forces the skin to have contact with the pan and will create crispy skin. Cook the fish for 2 to 3 minutes, and then remove the top pan. Shake the pan a little to unstick the fish. Use a fish spatula to flip the fillets, and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side. For thicker cuts or more well-done fillets, place the fish on a baking sheet skin-side up and pop in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 2 or 3 minutes. Finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
• Serve with the Nonfat Tzatziki, Warm Lentils with Mustard Vinaigrette and Kale and Pine Nut Salad.
• Grate the cucumber and place it in a fine strainer over a bowl. Salt the cucumber and allow it to drain until most of the juices come out, approximately 10 minutes. Squeeze out the last bit of juices and transfer to paper towels to pat dry.
• In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, white wine vinegar, garlic, mint and dill. Refrigerate to allow the flavors to meld, at least 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper before serving. Yield: 2 cups
• For the lentils: In a large saucepan, combine the lentils, bay leaves, garlic, celery, thyme, carrot, fennel, red onion and a good amount of salt. Add water to the pan until it covers the ingredients by about 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the lentils are soft, 20 to 30 minutes. Ladle off 1 cup of the lentil-cooking water and reserve. Remove all the vegetables and aromatics from the lentils and discard. Drain the lentils.
• For the warm salad: Heat a large saute pan with enough olive oil to coat the pan. Add the diced carrots, fennel and onions and sweat the vegetables about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add in the lentils, red wine vinegar and mustard. Pour in a couple tablespoons of the reserved cooking liquid and cook down for a couple minutes. Season with salt and garnish with chopped parsley and fennel fronds.
• Place the kale in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and some salt. Toss the kale in the dressing and let sit at room temperature to soften.
• Before serving, check the seasoning and add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Top with the toasted pine nuts.

NONFAT TZATZIKI

Steps:

• Grate the cucumber and place it in a fine strainer over a bowl. Salt the cucumber and allow it to drain until most of the juices come out, approximately 10 minutes. Squeeze out the last bit of juices and transfer to paper towels to pat dry.
• In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, white wine vinegar, garlic, mint and dill. Refrigerate to allow the flavors to meld, at least 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper before serving.