Say What? Tzatziki

Here we have a recipe for tzatziki, a Mediterranean cucumber-yogurt sauce. I recently was given an entire bunch of fresh dill, which I love, but is a strong flavor, so a little goes a long way. I've made gouda dill scones and roasted potatoes with dill, but I wanted a way to use up some more. Enter: this flavorful (low cal!) dip/sauce.

Here we have our ingredients:

Cucumber

Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)

Garlic

Lemon juice

Fresh dill

Diced red onion

Scallion

S&P

Simply chop the cucumber into small pieces (you can also grate it on a box grater, but this makes the dip a little soupier), chop the garlic with a little salt until it makes a paste, and then add the rest of the ingredients. It's good just as it is, but after it sits in the fridge for a few hours, it's even better. 

I like to make Greek salads with olives, pepperoncini  and feta, and use this as a sort of dressing. It's also good with chips, or spooned into pita with vegetables and chickpeas.

One-Bowl Meal

Lately I have been on a yogurt kick. I really like the nonfat plain Greek yogurt from Trader Joe's. 

Here's how I incorporated it into my breakfast this morning:

That's an apple and a banana, softened and warmed in the microwave. Then I added a palmful of dried dates (which I have also been loving lately. So sweet and chewy; more exciting than raisins), the Greek yogurt (not sure of the amount, maybe 1/2 cup?), 1/4 cup granola and a few oatmeal squares. This was really delicious and really filling. 

A while ago, I had a bunch of buttermilk I needed to use up, so I made a huge batch of pancakes. I froze all of them, and now they're just hangin' out in the freezer, waiting to be eaten. I made three for Cookie Monster this morning, and used some of my apple/banana mixture to make a compote. I cooked it down a little more and added brown sugar and a dab of butter so it got all goopy.

Drizzled at the end with a little maple syrup, Cookie Monster said it was a winner.

A Delightful Breakfast

This was a lovely breakfast I had yesterday. One of my favorite things of all time is peanut butter and jelly. It's practically the only thing I ate from approximately ages 3-12. I was a really picky eater as a kid; I don't know how my mom put up with me. If I had kids, they'd eat what I fixed them. The end. 

Thankfully, I grew out of the "trying new things is gross!" phase, and like almost everything now (except most meat, which is why, with new people, I just say I'm a vegetarian for simplicity's sake). I think the only vegetables I don't like are jicama and raw fennel.

Anyhoo, the point is, I still love PBJ, and a lot of times I have PBJ oatmeal. Yesterday I had whole wheat English muffins, so I did PBJ on each half.

But this ain't no regular jelly; it's my mother-in-law's homemade boysenberry jam. Oh my, is it good.

Alongside the English muffin, I had about a quarter each of an apple and banana, which I cooked in the microwave to break down the fruit and make it all warm, sugary and squishy. There was also a bit of plain yogurt and a crumbled bran muffin on the fruit (which was what I made for Cookie Monster's breakfast--I just swiped a little of it). Mmmmm!

All this, paired with the mandatory coffee (note the Ducks 1995  Rose Bowl mug. I have been a Ducks fan for a while), was a delightful and healthy breakfast.