A Greek Inspired Dinner

Tonight's dinner; turkey meatballs with greek seasoning, tzatziki sauce for dipping, couscous and a warm spinach-romaine salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and topped with toasted almonds and dried cranberries.

I haven't posted in awhile (hell, I haven't cooked in awhile), it's a busy time of the year for me. Lots of birthdays and graduations coming up (more cake pics coming soon!), not to mention I'm trying to get my spring yardwork and gardening done! Soil amending, planning, planting yadda yadda yadda. Today I felt like stretching my culinary legs so to speak, and try out some recipes that my buddies have posted.

Anywho, I decided I wanted to finally make a tzatziki sauce. Of course, what I really wanted was gyros; Pita bread, shaved lamb, onions, tomatoes, creamy tzatziki sauce....the whole nine yards. YUM! I've been craving them for so long. I would have loved to try my pal Shane's version of gyros, in fact, I had purchased the Greek yogurt and cucumbers, but I totally spaced getting lamb the last grocery store trip and well, I was too lazy to go back to the store today. Then I remembered one of my other buddies, Spryte, had posted a recipe awhile back for turkey burgers with tzatziki sauce. I was out of a couple of ingredients, but able to find suitable substitutes. (I would have much rather used fresh dill, fresh lemons and added the mint) So after picking both their brains, my modified version of sauce didn't turn out half bad. In fact, dinner was quite "awesome and A-ma-zing" according to my teenage daughter and her friend. (thanks Jess and Kelsey!) ;)

Here are my version of the recipes:

Meatballs 

Yield: about 40 balls

Ingredients:

1 lb ground sausage

1 lb ground turkey or beef

2 Tbsp water

2 eggs

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ C bread crumbs

¼ C grated parmesan cheese

2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1 tsp dried parsley

½ tsp garlic salt

¼ tsp ground pepper

Directions:

1. Crumble sausage and turkey into a large bowl. Add bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Quickly and gently toss together.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together water, eggs, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over meat mixture and gently, but thoroughly, mix with hands.
3. Using a 1 oz scoop or tablespoon, roll into equal size balls and place on prepared baking sheets spacing about ½-1 inch apart.
4. Bake at 375° F for about 15 minutes. Rotate pans on oven racks and bake for another 15 minutes.
5. Allow to cool and place in zip lock baggies.
6. You may refrigerate for a couple of days until ready to use or freeze for up to 6 months.

Serve with tzatziki sauce or bbq sauce

Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:
2 C greek yogurt, strained
2 Tbsp olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, minced finely

2 tsp dried minced onion

1 tsp garlic salt

¼ tsp white pepper

2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

1 tsp chopped fresh dill (1/2 tsp if using dried)

1 tsp dried chives

Directions:

1. Strain yogurt in a fine mesh strainer fitted over a bowl for at least 6 hours in the refrigerator, or over night. This will remove any excess liquid.
2. When ready to make the Tzatziki, place finely chopped cucumbers into a fine mesh strainer, lightly salt and allow to drain.
   Combine drained yogurt, olive oil, garlic, onion, dill and chives; mix well. Mix in cucumber and season with garlic salt and pepper. Chill for at least two hours before serving.
3. Garnish with a sprig of fresh dill just before serving.