Ever since I was young, I’ve always enjoyed eating foods that were very hands on. Ranging from dunkaroos (remember those?), taking the little individual cookies out of their tray and dunking them in to the creamy sugary vanilla icing, to using my fresh piece of bread to soak up all the steaming hot Thai curry that my parents would often make (we’re not Thai, but my parents make a mean Thai curry, maybe it’ll show up on here someday). So it’s really not a shocker that I love any and all dips even to this day.
Whenever I go out for lunch or dinner or even for a light snack, I’m easily sidetracked to ordering the appetizers comprising of various dips and sauces rather than place my focus on the main entrees, but with some nudging along, I eventually get pass just ordering the appies. Basically whenever the words, pita, naan, chips, bread, etc are highlighted, you know I’ll be enticed to try it. Maybe not straight away because not all my dining partners enjoy the dips as much as I do, but I’ll usually keep note to wander back some time down the road to give it a taste. So when I eventually was old enough to have my own kitchen to play in, dips were never in shortage around the house.
Enjoying the original flavours of any dip recipe are beyond what words can describe as being delectable, but due to the amount of how much I consume them, I had to find a way to lighten up my tried and true favourites without losing that taste. Hummus was my first endeavour because I love the creaminess of the chickpeas and the cumin infused flavour, but I couldn’t stop there. Tzatziki rates just as high on my list and although it’s already made from yogurt, the fattiness of the yogurt often made it a little heavy for me. So with some trial and errors, I think I’ve finally found a tzatziki recipe that I enjoy and would like to share with everyone.
Of course I couldn’t forget the pita bread which is used to scoop up the cool tzatziki sauce. Since I enjoy denser breads, I bake a pita bread adapted from Jeena’s that’s more similar to naan bread, which has more of a fleshy interior and gives a better chew, plus the thicker pita allows me to pick up more of that lovely dip in which to savour one bite at a time and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
½ cup low fat sour cream
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
2 cloves garlic minced
½ cucumber
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheesecloth
Preparation:
Place yogurt and sour cream in cheesecloth and allow excess water to drain out. Usually takes 1-2 hours in the fridge.
Peel and de-seed the cucumber, cut in to thin pieces, dry with a paper towel to remove all excess water.
Combine cucumbers, garlic, mint, salt and pepper in to yogurt / sour cream mixture. Stir well and place in fridge for flavours to infuse. Best when made in advance and left in fridge overnight before serving.
Whole wheat pita bread (naan bread)
Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp sugar
3 tbsp low fat plain yogurt
1 tbsp canola oil
1 packet of active dry yeast
¼ cup low fat milk
Hot water
Preparation:
Measure out the milk and place in a small bowl. Add in hot water a couple drops at a time until the milk is lukewarm. Mix in the dry yeast and set aside allowing the yeast to rise.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar. Make a small well in the centre and add in yogurt, oil and the milk mixture. Stir slowly until it becomes a nice doughy texture. Flour the countertop, place the dough on the counter and kneed for a couple of minutes.
Put the dough back in to the bowl, cover with seran wrap and let rise until it doubles in size (roughly 30 mins).
Once the dough has risen, remove it from the bowl and cut in to 4 equal sized portions. Preheat the oven to 450ºF
Flour the countertop and roll out each of the portions until it forms a small oval that’s ¼ inch think.
Brush a little olive oil or butter over the top and feel free to sprinkle on your favourite types of seeds to give it a little texture. Bake in the oven for roughly 5-8 minutes depending on the thickness of the bread.
Remove, let cool and serve with your favourite dipping sauce.
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