Ode To Grecian Food

Once again I found myself all alone with only my own hunger pains to satisfy.  Although I proudly serve beef at my dinner table, when the choice is truly all mine on what's for dinner I go to something a little lighter.  Not saying chicken is necessarily better, but when I think of chicken I think of salad not mashed potatoes and gravy.  So tonight my vote was for Greek!  I thought I was to tired to go to the store after work until I had made up my mind on dinner then realized I wasn't really that exhausted.       This meal has an appetizer of pita chips and my special recipe for tzatziki, a round of lentil soup.  Then a chicken pita for the big finale.  I originally tried my first taste of Greek food in Galveston, TX.  After the hurricane in 2005 the restaurant I worked at a wall collapsed and it was no longer in business.  It required me to find employment else where.  There I was introduced to the Olympia Grill.  Their food was amazing and my inspiration for my meal this evening.  Although that place will always hold a special place in my heart, my improvising knocks them out of the water!

First things first you want to get your lentil soup on the heat.  It takes the longest taking about 1 hour and 45 minutes of your day.  I promise it is all going to be worth it though.  Plus if you are going to do this for a dinner party make it the day before because the longer this soup sets the better it gets.    

I start off putting 28oz of diced tomatoes in my sauce pan.  There is actually a can that size so do not worry about dirtying a utensil with measuring it out.  Add 4 cups of cold water, a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic, 4 bay leaves (you can axe 2 of these if need be I am just a fan) S&P and if you like half a white onion.  Bring to a boil then add 1 cup of olive oil and 1/2 pound of lentils.  reduce heat to simmer and cook for 90 minutes.  Once the lentils are tender add red wine vinegar to taste.  By the time I am through adding vinegar to the pot I use about 1/2 cup and then more for my own bowl.  It is an ingredient that brings the entire soup together.      

After the soup is on go ahead and start of the tzatziki sauce.  I have been meaning to give this recipe out to a dear family friend (Elaine) so here it is! With this recipe again the longer this sits the better.    I start out by opening a 16 oz tub of plain greek yogurt.  You can use low fat, fat free anything you see fit.  Drain any excess liquid off and set the yogurt aside.  Get a small sauté pan hot and add 1/4 olive oil and 1 TB of minced garlic, S&P, along with a good dash of greek seasoning.  If you do not have this as a staple in your pantry you need to go out and get some.  You can thank me later. 

 Once the oil gets hot enough that it starts to fight with the garlic turn off the heat and move to a cold burner to cool.

 While you are waiting for the garlic oil to cool get your cucumber from the fridge, cut off both ends and slice down the middle.  Have you ever deseeded a cucumber?  Kinda confused?  Well don't be its as simple as pie.  Get a spoon and once the cucumber is halved then just run the spoon down the center of the cucumber scraping out the insides.  Pretty easy huh!  For my taztziki I like to leave on the cucumber skin but you are more than welcome to peel yours off.  It's the contrast I like in the sauce.  Also another tip is I like to grate my cucumber on a hand towel so once you are finished you can wring it out over the sink to get rid of the extra water its toting around.

Usually I have to mix my yogurt sauce in a separate bowl but this time I had previously used some of the yogurt in another recipe so I had enough room to do it all in the yogurt cup!  Even a kitchen can have a sense of humor.  Thanks for saving me the trouble of cleaning a extra dirty dish =)  Once all piled on top stir until your hearts content!!  Replace lid back on top and refrigerate until ready to serve.

After I got the soup on and the taztziki made I cubed some boneless chicken breast, put in a hot pan and browned.   Believe me no picture necessary.  I have the utmost confidence that you can complete this task with out a boring picture!!   

 Once the soup is almost done I start to assemble my chicken pitas.  I do have to let you in on something.... I am not a fan of the stale pita bread that the stores sell.  If you by chance see any naan grab it, grab 2 I do not care just make sure you get enough.  Although it is used traditionally in Indian food, in our local market its the closet taste to fresh pita, and its amazing.  It is a soft, tender flavor filled carb frenzy.  Topped with my chicken, spring mix, crunchy purple onion, fresh tomato and creamy tzatiki it is just so good.  You will also want to warm it to eat with your tzatziki, even though I opted out and had pita chips with mine.

 I couldn't for the life of me decide on what pictures to post in this blog.  They all came out so beautiful. When you are cooking good food though its easy to run into that problem!!

Tzatziki Sauce:

1 - 16 oz container plain greek yogurt with excess water poured off

1 cucumber deseeded and grated

Heat:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tb minced garlic

s&p

dash of greek seasoning

Once it starts talking remove from heat

Stir in after it cools with the yogurt and cucumber.

Be sure to refrigerate!

Lentil Soup:

Out 28 oz of diced tomatoes in sauce pan add 4 cups of cold water

1 heaping TB of minced garlic

4 bay leaves

1/2 white onion (optional)

s&p to taste

bring to a boil and add

1 cup of olive oil 

1/2 pound of lentils

bring to a boil once agin then reduce heat to a simmer

Cook for 1 hour 45 minutes or until lentils are tender.

A great accompaniment to this soup is a dollop of your fresh made tzatziki =)