Speed Souvlaki With Tzatziki

[MOC031]

Ate a lot of souvlaki- style street food when we were deployed in the Balkans. This tastes pretty similar to what the Romas sold out of their little grill stands.

I'm big on easy and fast meals, usually carnivorous type food. This is fast and easy. Feeds two. Won't be many dishes to clean up.

Grilled Souvlaki by Rick

1.5 lbs. pork; cubed or strips
.5 cup olive oil
.25 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. sea salt
.5 tsp. pepper
dried oregano
1 lemon; cut into 8 wedges

Simple. Can also be done using lamb or chicken.

DIRECTIONS:

Combine oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pour over meat and marinate for at least 1 hour.

Thread meat onto metal skewers. Grill until cooked through, approximately 8-10 minutes, turning back and forth while brushing with marinade.

Sprinkle with dried oregano and serve with lemon wedges.

Can be served just that way, or with fresh pitas, chopped tomatoes and onions, and Speed Tzatziki

Speed Tzatziki

Not REAL tzatziki, but I have yet to hear anyone complain.

1 cup yogurt
1 cup sour cream
1 mini cucumber; finely julienned
3 Tbsp. garlic; minced
1.5 Tbsp. sesame oil
4 Tbsp. mint; finely chopped
salt; to taste
1 Tbsp. dill; optional

DIRECTIONS:

Amounts are approximate. I use equal parts yogurt and sour cream. A mini cucumber is just about the right size AND doesn't give the same problems with making the tzatziki watery as regular cukes do, if you don't drain them after julienning.

I like lots of mint; this is one of those "to taste" things, as is the amount of garlic you use. Fresh dill can overpower things, so go slow with that until you get an idea of how much you like.

Ideally, make it ahead of time and let it sit for a few hours to mellow and blend.

Serve with hot pitas and/or souvlaki

[JBinMN]

Coincidentally, as, well as funny to me, but we had homemade Souvlaki with chicken, just last nite.

Very similar to your recipes, but in the souvlaki itself, we add veggies to it. Some pieces of onion, green pepper, cucumber & tomatoes. ( Pushes it to something like a gyro).

We use Cucumber Ranch or reg. Ranch dressing, if we do not make the Tzatziki sauce, and instead of any pocket bread/pitas(<which, I always seem to tear), we partially wrap them up in white tortillas


That is how we have modified them over the years to suit the availability of some of the items & still have a similar taste. In "our" opinion , of course.

We have not had a "real" one, made by a Greek, in the Greek manner, either Souvlaki or Gyro, in years.

Thanks for sharing the the recipes & taking the time to type them out.

[MT Gianni]

All the Tzatziki I have had varies by maker. We peel and seed an 8"-12" cuke and run it through the blender with 3-4 garlic cloves. Drain in a colander and add a cup of
plain yogurt. A pinch of dill and fresh mint are optional and seasonal. We use this as a dip or on foods.
For Gyro's pound the pork with a round steak, one on each side until they are firmly joined then marinate. Traditional is to roll on a rotisserie but it is good baked and sliced also.