The Best Tzatziki

Growing up we always had tzatziki, being a yogurt worshiper it was easy to love. It was all minty and garlicy, with large chunks of cucumber. But when I went away to school, I encountered a different sort of tzatziki, with a much thicker consistency, much more flavor and shredded cucumber, I started playing with the recipe, sort of mixing the two and adding a few "secret" ingredients to get as much punch out of it as I could.

At the height of summer, this can even be served as a cold soup, though I use a thinner yogurt if I'm going to serve it as a soup. If on the other hand you're going to serve this on burgers, use strained yogurt, to get a more spreadable consistency.

A touch of dill, doesn't take away from the mint flavor, but rather adds to it, and the lemon punches up the naturally sour taste of the yogurt, but then again I love strong acids, so that may be why I love that addition.

Getting the correct balance of salt is not always easy, I just add slowly and taste til perfect. This sauce increases in flavor if you leave it overnight, although the cucumbers do lose a bit of the crunch. It actually seems to absorb some of the salt as this happens, so if you do end up oversalting, an overnight stay can cure this.

Start by shredding cucumber, skin on.

Then strain out the excess water, I shred onto a paper towel and then squeeze out the excess.

Top with garlic, mint, dill, and salt.

Add yogurt, olive oil, and lemon juice. Mix

Done.

tzatziki

1/2 large cucumber
1 clove garlic
2 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp dried dill
salt to taste
1 1/2 cups yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil