Tzatziki Sauce

I'm back with my Friday recipes, well I hope I can keep up with them.  I'm going to try.  This week I have one of my favorite recipes.  It's not a meal, just a sauce, but it really does make the meal.  I'm taking about Tzatziki sauce, or cucumber sauce.  It's the delicious sauce that gyros have smothered all over them.  Oh it's so good.

I love dipping pita bread in it, adding it to a Greek salad, or topping off a chicken gyro.  And when it's homemade, it's even more delicious.

So let's get started shall we.

Ingredients
~ 1 large cucumber
~ 8 oz of Greek yogurt
~ 2 cloves of garlic
~ 1 tbs olive oil
~ fresh lime juice, 1/2 a lime
~ 1 tsp fresh chopped dill
~ salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.  Chop your cucumber into very small pieces, a food processor works great for this.  I don't peal or de-seed mine, just pop it in and chop it up.
2.  Let the cucumber drain for at least and hour.  You want to get as much liquid out of it as possible.
3.  Mix in the Greek yogurt, olive oil, lime juice, dill, and garlic.  I just fold this in using a spatula or wooden spoon.
4.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
5.  Chill for an hour or more, if you can resist waiting.

Make sure to use the Greek yogurt for best results.  You can use regular yogurt, but it won't have that bitterness the Greek yogurt adds.  Also, if you use regular yogurt, you should drain it before you use it.  You don't want your sauce to be runny.  And if you forget to drain the cucumbers and/or yogurt, you can drain the Tzatziki sauce itself.  Don't ask how I know this ;-)

I sometimes add some red pepper flakes for a little kick.  Experiment with different flavors to see which you like best.

Feel free to double or triple recipe based on your needs.  It's just the two of us, so this is plenty for us.

Recipe adapted from allrecipe.com