Tzatziki Sauce

We have a favorite Greek restaurant in town and they have the best Tzatziki Sauce. I've tried several recipes at home and none of them even compare. The problem was is that I wasn't using Greek yogurt. You wouldn't think it would make much of a difference, but it's thicker and has more of a sour cream texture. But Greek yogurt was hard to find until now. Yoplait has come out with their Greek yogurt. And it's delicious. I found it at my local grocery store near the regular yogurt.

I searched internet recipes and they call for 8 oz. of Greek yogurt and Yoplait only sells it in 6 oz. containers so I winged it and made up my own recipe using several recipes from online to guide me. Here's my Tzatziki Sauce:

Tzatziki Sauce

1 (6 oz) container Yoplait Greek Yogurt
3/4 cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 tsp dill (more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients well and refrigerate for at least 1 hour for best results. You can use your food processor if you desire a smoother consistency. Enjoy!


** We enjoyed our Tzatziki Sauce with sliced steak, onions, tomatoes, cucumber in a grilled pita.

Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein

I love Cook's Country Magazine. It's my all-time favorite cooking magazine. It's from America's Test Kitchen (on PBS) and I love that because they go through all the trial and error to get the "just-right" recipe so I don't have to. In the center of the magazine they have 30-minute meal recipe cards. I wanted an extra vegetable with our Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein so I tried making garlic green beans and they were delicious! I also bought some wonton skins (wrappers for egg rolls) and cut them into strips and fried them. They gave the dish some extra crunch. Yumm! Makes great leftovers, too!

Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein
(from Cook's Country February/March 2009)

3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar (I just used white vinegar since I didn't have rice)
1 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger (I used ground ginger and taste-tested as I added)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 1/2 cups water
4 (3-oz) pkgs ramen noodles, broken into large pieces, seasoning packet discarded
1 (16-oz) bag cole slaw mix
2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/4-in-thick slices
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Simmer soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, sugar, and cornstarch (whisk in the cornstarch so you don't get lumps) in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking often, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Tranfer half of soy sauce mixture to large bowl and reserve. Add water to saucepan with remaining soy sauce mixture and return to boil. Add ramen and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes (maybe a little less than 4 minutes because they'll soften as they set). Off heat, stir in cole slaw and mix. Cover and keep warm.
2. Pat chicken dry with paper towels (season with salt and pepper). Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink, about 1 minute per side. Transfer chicken to bowl with reserved soy sauce mixture and toss to coat. Transfer noddles to platter and top with chicken. Serve.

Garlic Green Beans

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
1/4 cup water
large bunch of green beans

Use the same skillet you cooked the chicken in and add vegetable oil. Heat on meiumm-high until smoking then add the garlic and sautee until fragrent, about 1 minute. Pour in water and add green beans, mix to coat. Cover for 2 minutes, toss, and cook uncovered another 2 minutes. Serve.


That's it. And it was delicious! As good as any Chinese take out, I think. And it only took 30 minutes!! Fry up some wontons to give this meal an extra crunch. Enjoy.

Grown-up Peas and Carrots

...or Carrots and Peas

I never minded eating vegetables when I was growing up. But those flavors need a little updating. So today I give you "Grown-up Peas and Carrots".


Grown-Up Peas and Carrots
(I'm totally guessing on the measurements here)
serves 2

1/2 to 1 Tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, cut into sticks
1/4 onion cut into slices
1/2 to 1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Heat olive oil in a small skillet until shimmering. Add carrots, onion and Balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Saute until carrots are tender and onions are caramelized. Add peas and heat through.

It's pretty easy. I didn't know what to make for a side dish to go with my Baked Cod so I just started putting stuff in a pan. Hope you enjoy!!

Mexican Bean Dip

Mmmm! This was really good. I served it as one of my appetizers for our Oscar Party. I put out diced tomatoes and thinly sliced scallions as toppers.

Mexican Bean Dip

1 can refried beans
1 80z pkg cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)
1 sm container sour cream
1 pkg taco mix
10 drops Tabasco sauce (I omitted)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (I used another 1/2 cup and sprinkled on top before baking)

Mix all ingredients and place in a medium casserole or a 9x9 greased baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

It makes great leftovers too. The boys and I had bean tacos for lunch. Mmm!

Pear Cranberry Side Salad

We have lettuce salad as a side to our meals a lot. Sometimes it gets boring with lettuce, carrots, and ranch dressing. So I started experimenting with ingredients I'd had in salads at restaurants. Give this one a try. It's really refreshing.

Pear Cranberry Side Salad
for 1 serving

bowl of lettuce (we've used iceberg and romaine)
1/4 pear, cubed
1 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp walnuts (can be toasted)
1/2 tbsp raspberry vinaigrette

You can change the amount of cranberries and walnuts to your liking and you can also add some feta or gogonzola cheese. Delicious!!

Easy Pasta Casserole

1 lb penne pasta, cooked
4 eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
3 cups Mozzarella
1 jar spaghetti sauce (we like Ragu's Mama's Special Garden Sauce)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs and mix in Parmesan cheese and salt. Pour over hot pasta and mix until all pasta is coated. Pour pasta mixture into greased 9x13 pan. Pour spaghetti sauce over pasta mixture and top with cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes and broil until cheese is golden brown (about 2 minutes).

This recipe can be halved and baked in a pie plate and you have Pasta Pie. You can substitute any kind of pasta for the penne. I use penne because it coats well with the egg mixture and the spaghetti sauce gets down into the pasta better. You can also add 1/4 to 1/2 lb of pepperoni before topping with cheese.