Greek Yogurt | Ski Boots in the Kitchen

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! We had gorgeous weather in Park City, which was a welcomed change from all the rain and gloomy weather we’ve been having here. I keep telling myself that all this rain now… means LOTS of snow this winter, right? I kicked off my long weekend with a BBQ with some friends, like I am sure many of you did as well. I was looking for a different appetizer to bring to the BBQ than the usual hummus and carrots or veggie platter which are so over done!

We have been getting a lot of cucumbers in our CSA lately so I thought it would be perfect to use some of them up. This recipe for Tzatziki is super light and refreshing- it uses about half the amount of sour cream that most recipes call for, making this the perfect dip or condiment! I also love putting this Tzatziki on my Greek chicken gryo’s (recipe to come!) Serve this dip with some pita chips and enjoy!!

Greek Tzatziki Dip

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon white wine or champagne vinegar
2 gloves garlic, minced or pressed using a garlic press
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
4-5 turns of fresh pepper
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup sour cream
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced (smaller is better)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill (I use freeze dried sometimes too)

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix to combine, set aside.
Peel cucumbers and slice them lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop the seeds from the flesh and discard them. Diced the cucumber into small bite size cubes.
In another medium bowl, use a whisk to blend yogurt with sour cream.
Add the olive oil mixture to the yogurt mixture and stir until none of the oil remains.
Fold in cucumber and dill until fully incorporated. Chill for 1-2 hours before serving.
Serve with pita chips

It’s finally dumping that light fluffy powder outside my window and there are only 8 days till the chair lifts start turning up on the mountain! I know all my friends back East are getting pummeled with snow too – So whats better than a bowl of hot soup to warm you up on a cold snowy weekend? I have so much Acorn Squash in the fridge right now with all the recipes I’ve been cooking I needed to use them up! You probably don’t even need to go to the store for this simple acorn squash bisque, which is why its the perfect snow day soup. I adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart’s – Instead of half-and-half I used Greek Yogurt. Hope you enjoy and stay warm!

Its accumulating quickly outside!

Ingredients for Acorn Squash Bisque:

2-3 acorn squashes
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or about 1 teaspoon dried if you don’t have fresh)
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1/2 -3/4 cup Greek Yogurt

Preheat oven to 450

Halve squash lengthwise; scoop out and discard seeds. Place squash cut side down on a baking sheet and roast until almost tender when pierced with a knife (about 30 min). When cool enough, scrape out flesh of the squash with a spoon and discard the skins. Set remaining squash aside.

In large saucepan, heat butter over medium. Add onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until onion has become translucent about 3-5 minutes. Add squash, thyme, broth and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to medium and cook until squash is very tender, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and add Greek Yogurt.

Working in batches, puree mixture in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Return to pan and season generously with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with fresh thyme (if you have it on hand).