Greek Taziki Sauce & Appetizer

I had a mad craving for Greek food the other day and decided that instead of going out to eat I would cook and invite a couple friends over. I love that Greek food can be really simple or really complicated to make, and being lazy I went with the easy recipes. I decided to make my personal favorite Taziki sauce and then I just added onto that with olives, fresh veggies, hummus, pita bread, feta cheese, and some lamb burgers so we could turn this appetizer into a meal by making gyros. It was so nice to be able to just sit outside in the backyard and relax and graze on the appetizer, which so easily transitioned into dinner. This would also be a great appetizer if your throwing a large party, or need a heavy snack during mid-day. Opa!


Greek Taziki Sauce

4 Cups Whole Milk Yogurt
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice From 1/2 Lemon
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

The secret to making a good thick taziki sauce is to drain the yogurt first. Simply line a colander with 2 layers of paper towels and dump in yogurt. Let drain over a bowl for 2 hours, you will lose half the volume of the yogurt, so make sure to use the full 4 cups.
Next place the thickened yogurt into a mixing bowl, add the garlic, cucumber, olive oil, lemon and salt and stir until well combined. Cover and let rest for at least one hour before serving so that the flavors can develop (the longer it sits the more pronounced the garlic will be). Stir again and place into your desired serving dish.
To make a full appetizer plate cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, fetta cheese, and warm pita bread and hummus, and serve.