I can’t even come up with words to properly convey my feelings for tzaziki. Cool, creamy, and fantastic with everything from vegetables to steak. It’s incredibly easy to make, and incredibly easy to customize to your own taste.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plain yogurt (this can be regular yogurt or Greek yogurt, fat free or as fatty as you’d like, as long as it’s plain)
• 1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
• 1 or 2 pinches of salt
• 1/4 cup fresh mint
• 3 cloves of fresh garlic or 1 tablespoon of pre-minced garlic from a jar

Preparation:
If regular yogurt is being used, strain the yogurt in cheesecloth for 1 to 2 hours. Frankly, I’ve been known to use coffee filters sitting in a colander for this - cheesecloth isn’t vital, anything that won’t disintegrate or leave your yogurt linty will do. Straining the yogurt makes it thicker, and helps to alleviate the whole “watery stuff on top” action that yogurt can fall victim to. If you’re using Greek yogurt, this step is totally unnecessary, as that stuff is nice and thick already.

Grate the cucumber. Yep, right on the cheese grater. Put the grated cucumber in another piece of cheesecloth and sprinkle some salt on top (the salt will keep the cucumber from getting bitter). Set the cucumber/cheesecloth bundle in a strainer to allow the water to drain from the cucumber.

Chop the mint. If you’re using fresh garlic, crush and peel the cloves then chop them finely.

Assembly:
Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl. Stir until everything is nice and smooth and evenly distributed. Refrigerate for about an hour to let all of the ingredients mellow out and get to know each other (a.k.a. “letting the flavors mingle”). Taste your tzaziki to make sure it’s to your liking, and if necessary add more of whatever ingredient your heart desires.  Serve with anything that can benefit from this blissful stuff - anything from pita chips to grilled chicken, or with tzaziki’s classic partner, gyros.