Peas on the Plate

Let me preface this post by saying: we live in a pretty Greek part of Queens. There’s a Greek place around the corner from our apartment. We pass three Greek restaurants on the way to Rob’s parents’ house. So, dear reader, why did I wake up and decide that I, an impatient person who lacks the sense of timing necessary for marinades etc, woke up wanting to make Greek food? Is it because it was so hot in our house that I remembered how it felt to walk through the streets in Mykonos thinking about my next gelato?

(Okay, now I’m becoming one of Those Bloggers. Realistically, it was probably boredom and self-loathing.)

Regardless of the reason, that’s how I spent my Saturday afternoon. All told, this undertaking took the better part of two and a half hours and didn’t taste as good as what I could have gotten at any of the aforementioned eateries for under $20, but I waded into some unfamiliar territory, so altogether, I’m glad I did it.

I did not, as some recipes nonchalantly recommended, just ✨ make my own pita ✨ because my sense of overachievement only goes so far.

I used an amalgam of recipes – I found this delight from The Greek Foodie, and it’s true – this is the perfect tzatziki sauce. Would have been even more perfect if I had fresh dill and not dried, but the only edible thing that’s managed to thrive in my garden is my basil plant, which recently exploded and is promising some pesto-based fun ahead (side note: if you know any great pesto recipes, send ’em my way.)

The Greek Foodie also has a chicken souvlaki recipe that sounds amazing, but it required a few things I didn’t have on hand, so I located this significantly less ambitious recipe from My Greek Dish.

Then I broke my boycott of my oven to heat up some fries to serve with this meal. I figured it was already hotter than the fires of Hell while I was cooking my chicken pieces on a hot nonstick pan instead of a proper grilling skillet, so why not add a few degrees more? (Answer: because it made me want to die.)

So here are some takeaways from an afternoon spent in my kitchen attempting something I had no business assuming I’d do better than anyone else:

• Cooking chicken pieces in a frying pan requires a lot of attention. Souvlaki is supposed to be grilled, but we don’t have a grill and I don’t have a skillet that has that capability, so I used a regular pan and some olive oil. The problem with small pieces of chicken is that they cook really quickly, and weren’t rendering with an accurate temperature on my meat thermometer. The result: the chicken was well-seasoned but really overcooked. Thank God there’s so much sauce on top or it would have suuuuucked.

• A longer marinade time would have made it even better. Yeah, this is obvious, but I marinated the chicken for around an hour. It was flavorful, but I bet an overnight marinade would have made it a true banger. Oh, and knowing how to cook small pieces of chicken.
• When it comes to seasoning, more is more. Recipes with oregano in them also benefit from thyme and rosemary. They’re an excellent trifecta, so I used all three even though the chicken recipe called for oregano only.
• You can substitute rice vinegar if you don’t have white wine vinegar! I don’t expect this to be a common problem, but it was good to know as a person who owns a bottle of rice vinegar but no white wine vinegar.

Since I think the tzatziki came out ahead in this meal and I tweaked it a tiny bit, I’m going to post the recipe to that. If you want to make the chicken, the recipe is here!

Tzatziki Sauce

• Servings: A lot – look at that bowl!
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins, + 1 hour for refrigeration
• Difficulty: easy
• Rating: ★★★★★
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Creamy without being heavy, this tzatziki sauce is tasty and easy to make and a perfect accompaniment with those vegetables slowly going bad in your fridge because no one actually likes snacking on vegetables.

Using fresh dill is deal, but it’s good with dried dill as well – this recipe uses dried since that’s what I had on hand.

Ingredients

• 1½ C greek yogurt
• 1 seedless cucumber, grated with the large grates of a box grater. Microplane isn’t ideal. I used smaller pickling cucumbers, but a larger seedless one is fine too.
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 TBSP dried dill, or more to taste
• 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 3 TBSP white wine vinegar or rice vinegar (more substitution suggestions here)
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Grate the cucumber using the large grates of a grater. Place grated cucumber in a strainer or colander in the sink. Add a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Let it rest to release its liquids for 15 minutes. (If you use cucumber juice for anything, you might want to save it!)
2. Mix the yogurt, minced garlic, remaining vinegar and olive oil. Mix well.
3. Squeeze or press down on the cucumber to release all remaining liquid. Add cucumber to the yogurt mix. Stir well.
4. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Stir in the dill. Mix well and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
5. Serve with a sprinkle of dill on top and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.