Turns out, the chef at Athens Grill is Lebanese, and according to my husband, who grew up closely with a Lebanese family, the Lebanese use a lot more garlic than the Greeks. Either way, I do love garlic, and I love the fresh dips and sauces that go along with your typical Greek meal: hummus, tzatziki and skordalia. They always taste refreshing and I never feel guilty for eating them.
So the other day I was browsing through a bunch of my favorite food blogs and I came across this post. "WAT! Greek NACHOS?! No wai!!!" I said to myself, immediately bookmarking the recipe for future use. Now I love nachos. LOVE. I mean, who doesn't? They're crunchy, cheesy, meaty and just darn delicious. However, I rarely eat them because they are terribly unhealthy for you. But Greek Nachos... now there was a recipe designed with genius! I will admit, these nachos were a bit more work than your average tortilla chip with some melty cheese, but they were well worth it.
Greek Nachos
• Hummus (Recipe Below)
• Tzatziki (Recipe Below)
• 1 tomato, chopped fine
• 1 cup lettuce, shredded
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 4 pita, cut into wedges
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large sauté pan heated to medium-high, add the olive oil. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 3 minutes or until translucent. Add the cumin and oregano and cook one minute more to bring out the oils in the spices. Turn the heat to high and add the ground beef. Cook until browned nicely, stirring occasionally. Drain the meat in a colander, set aside.
Put the pita wedges on a large cookie sheet, spread out as best you can, and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until they are golden brown and crispy. You want the pita to be crisp all the way through like a tortilla chip, but not burned. If necessary, bake at a lower temperature for a longer time to dry them out. (The pita I bought at Shoprite were really thin, and crisped up perfectly. I imagine the thicker ones will be a bit harder when baked, and you might want fewer of them because they're more substantial.)
Place a handful of the baked pita chips on a place, top with meat, hummus, tzatziki, feta, tomato and lettuce and DIG IN!
Hummus
Over the last few years, hummus has been steadily rising on the food scene as a delicious alternative to higher fat, low nutrition dips. Made from chickpeas, hummus is an excellent source of protein, and, if made at home, can be low-sodium and a source of good fats. If you choose not to make your own hummus (and I understand, it's a lot of prep), just buy a tub from your supermarket and thin some of it out with some water or olive oil to make it dollop-able. Making it at home does require some special equipment: a food processor or a really good blender.
• 1/2 lb. dried chickpeas
• 1/2 tbsp. tahini*
• salt to taste
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 clove garlic
• good quality extra virgin olive oil
Cook the chickpeas according to package directions. (I did mine the easy way and tossed them into my small crock pot, adding water to the top, and putting them on high overnight. No salt, no seasonings, no nothing, just water and chickpeas.) Drain them, reserving the cooking liquid. Allow them to cook to room temperature.
Put the cooled chickpeas, garlic and tahini into your food processor and pulse a few times to make sure the garlic is chopped up. Then add in the lemon juice and about a quarter cup of the cooking liquid. Turn the processor on, and blend until smooth, adding a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (this part is to taste). If it is too thick, add cooking liquid until it is the consistency you want. At this point, taste it. Does it need salt? Probably. Add salt to taste, and blend a few more moments for a nice, smooth consistency. Refrigerate if you aren't going to use it right away. Leftovers can be consumed with any raw veggie or toasted pita, or used instead of mayo on a sandwich.
Tzatziki
If you've ever eaten a gyro, souvlaki or falafel, you've probably had tzatziki. It always contains at least four ingredients: yogurt, cucumber, garlic and an herb. I like mine with dill, though some recipes call for mint and/or parsley. Some recipes call for tahini. This is my own personal version, and one I would put on my breakfast cereal if that were the thing to do.
• 2 cups plain low fat yogurt
• 1/2 tbsp. tahini*
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp. fresh dill
• 1 cucumber
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
This is a recipe you'll want to start the night before. Line a small colander with several layers of cheesecloth or two coffee filters (I use coffee filters, cheesecloth is expensive!). Scoop in the yogurt and set the colander over a bowl to catch the whey. Place this in your fridge, uncovered, for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. The whey will drain out of the yogurt, making it thick, somewhere between cream cheese and full-fat sour cream.
The next day, cut the ends off of the cucumber, peel it, slice it in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Using a box grater or your food processor, grate the cucumber. Put the cucumber shreds in a colander, add the sea salt and toss. Put this colander over a bowl like you did with your yogurt, and allow that to sit in your fridge while you go take a nap, do some laundry, or catch a movie (four hours is good).
When you're done all your leisurely activities, squeeze the cucumber shreds to get all of the excess moisture out. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
Mince the garlic fine and do the same with the dill. You can do these at the same time if you wish.
Now comes the easy part: stir everything together. Yep, that's it. Stir the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, dill and tahini together and you're done! My suggestion would be to let this meld flavors for a while in the fridge, but if you're really in a hurry it's ready to eat right away.
* Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. You can find it near the peanut butter at your grocery store. The brand I use has an orange and brown can. You will find that after a period of non-use, the paste will separate into the protein and the oil, but if you stir it back together it's as good as new. I have read it lasts forever, so don't worry about it going bad if you don't use it right away. If you don't want to buy a can because of price, or if you've run out, like I did, you can use a couple of tablespoons of sesame seeds smashed in a mortar and pestle with a teaspoon of olive oil. Worked fine for me.
Results
YUM! I score these puppies a 10/10, and my hubby says, and I quote: "they are at LEAST an 8". This coming from the man who was almost done his plate before I had even finish photographing mine, and delved into seconds with no hesitation. The pita chips with the perfect vehicle for the tasty, garlicky sauces and savory ground beef. The lettuce and tomatoes added some crisp freshness and the feta a salty bite. I could probably eat these once a week.
Verdict
Three words: WIN WIN WIN. That is all.
No comments:
Post a Comment