What's For Supper Tonight?

With fresh veggies like cucumbers and spinach, can anyone guess that I'm going Greek tonight? Greek spaghetti with fried pita bread and homemade tzatziki sauce, and a Greek "village salad" is on the menu for this evening's meal. Here's how it's done!

Tzatziki Sauce

1 large container of plain yogurt.

Don't use fat-free. Greek yogurt is the best but it's hard to find where I live, so I strain the yogurt to thicken it up. Easiest way I've found? Dump it into one of those wire screen strainers, put that over a bowl, and put it in the fridge overnight. You'll have at least a cup of water to pour out. Then put the yogurt back into the bowl for mixing.

2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and grated.

Put those in the same strainer your yogurt was in and just set it over the sink. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of kosher salt over the cucumbers, to help them release their water. In about 30 minutes, squeeze the water out of the cucumbers, then dump them onto paper towels folded for thickness, and squeeze out more water. Put the cucumbers into the yogurt.

Add the juice of one lemon (about three tablespoons), a clove of minced garlic, about a tablespoon of dill weed, pepper to taste, and a dash of olive oil. Mix it all together. Some folks prefer mint over dill, so if you have fresh mint you might opt to try that instead. If you have a food processor, you can use it for a creamier result. I don't, so my tzatziki has a bit more texture. Put this mixture back into the yogurt container for storage, and allow to set for at least 2 hours for the flavors to blend. Yum, yum!! And SO easy!

Greek Spaghetti

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil up 4 servings of spaghetti noodles in water to which you've added some chicken bullion cubes. I usually use about 5. Drain the spaghetti when it's done and put it back in its kettle.

Melt about 6 tablespoons of butter in a pan, and add about a clove of minced garlic. Dice up a dozen or so leaves of fresh spinach to sautee along with the garlic and butter, and if you like you can add other veggies to taste. A bit of oregano goes nicely here, too. You'll want to brown the butter, be careful to not burn it.

Pour the butter/veggie mixture over the spaghetti noodles, mix well, and turn this mixture out into a casserole dish. Top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese (it melts better but the kind we get on the store shelves near the bottled spaghetti sauce will taste fine), some finely crumbled feta cheese, and some Panko bread crumbs. Bake on 350 for about 20 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and mixture is bubbly.

Fried Pita Bread

Just like it sounds! A bit of olive oil in a frying pan, medium to medium-high heat, put the pita bread in and treat it like a grilled cheese sandwich. Once lightly browned on both sides, turn out onto paper towels to drain and slice into wedges like a pizza. To die for good with tzatziki sauce :) Don't use the "pita pocket" bread - use the real Greek pita. "Pita pockets" are really dry.

Greek "Village Salad"

1 cucumber, sliced into half-moons
1 tomato, cut into wedges
1/4 medium sweet onion (or red onion, your option), sliced thinly into rings
1/2 green pepper, julienned
A dozen pitted Kalmata olives
Crumbled feta cheese
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Dressing

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic—minced
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Shake all these together in a container and pour onto your veggies... toss gently and serve. I also like creamy Caesar dressing on this salad, and Greek oil and vinegar from the store, they're easier and well worth a try.

Wishing you a wonderful dinner, and I'll be thinking of you all tonight as I dine in fine Greek style. My best to you all, and Happy Cooking :)