Tzatziki with Onion Almond Crackers

I have always loved Tzatziki.

Long before I realised how healthy it can be!

Recently, Mo and I discovered that store bought tzatziki (from Sainsbury’s) was one ready-made dip we could trust (in an emergency at least – no nasty artificial additives etc).

I know the Primal community encourages making your own, well, everything – but sometimes there just isn’t enough time! And in situations when you have last minute guests coming over or lots of people to cater for – knowing that something ready-made is just about OK… well that rocks!

We’re not being lazy or pushed for time here, so while I may not have the patience to make my own yoghurt, I’m more than happy to make my own tzatziki (with store bought yoghurt).

I mean, it’s made up of just a few very simple ingredients, it takes mere minutes to whip up and it just tastes YUM!

Mo and I decided to make some last weekend. So using the best full fat Greek yoghurt we could find, we whipped up a serving of this Grecian sensation.

Tzatziki

Makes: 2 cups   Takes: 5 mins

Ingredients:
1 cup full-fat Greek yoghurt (strained)
1 cup cubed and de-seeded cucumber
2 cloves garlic
handful fresh mint
salt, to taste (optional)

• we found a greek yoghurt that is basically ready-strained. If you can’t find such wonders, strain about 1 1/2 cups of yoghurt in cheese cloth overnight) this should leave  you with about 1 cup of strained yoghurt
• place your cup of yoghurt in a bowl
• peel and mince/finely chop your garlic. mix well into yoghurt.
• cut about half a cucumber down the centre lengthways,  and scrap out the seeds. Then cut into strips, and chop into small cubes.
• throw the chopped cucumber into the yoghurt
• pick the mint leaves off the stalks, and very finely chop – add to yoghurt cucumber and garlic.
• salt to taste if required – I didn’t.
• transfer into serving dish along-side chopped up veggies or primal crackers (recipe below) and enjoy!

This is a super easy dip to throw together. It’s fresh, tasty and contains only good stuff (assuming you’re a dairy eater).

Mo and I thoroughly enjoyed our tzatziki with a batch of super more-ish and delightful onion crackers.

I’ll admit that I didn’t make these. These are Mo’s babies, but he has allowed me the honour of sharing the recipe with you…

Thanks Mo!

Mo adapted his own recipe with a lot of inspiration from Life As A Plate.

I’ll be honest, before I tried them, I was a little skeptical. It’s started to become fairly natural for me to turn down anything resembling a wheat product, but I gave these a taste, and my goodness, they’re YUM! So addictive!

Paleo Onion and Sesame Almond Crackers
Loosely based on a recipe by Life As A Plate

Makes: 25    Takes: 35-45Mins

Ingredients:
2 cups Almond meal
3 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 egg, beaten

• place all dry ingredients in a bowl, mix until well combined
• pour beaten egg and olive oil into dry ingredients
• stir until the mixture has formed an even dough
• form a ball, and place onto greaseproof paper, flatten gently
• place another piece of greaseproof paper on top, roll out until desired thickness, about 2mm
• cut into a grid of squares or rectangles – leave together (they will break apart easily once baked)
• place whole sheet onto a baking tray, and bake at 160 C/320 F for 20-25mins. until lightly browned and crisp
• cool on a wire rack, and break apart crackers once cool

I’m quite keen on trying these out with half walnut flour as suggested in the original recipe. I’m sure it will give the cracker a pleasant nuttier taste.

I’m also quite tempted to play around with flavouring.

Maybe using a generous measure of freshly ground black pepper in place of the onion powder to make black pepper crackers… or using a higher ratio of sesame seeds to really highlight their deliciousness. I shall have to experiment with these, because they really are quite yummy!

As is, these crackers are VERY pleasant… maybe even too pleasant considering how addictive they are!

So I would highly recommend giving them a go, but be warned!

The combination of the onion/garlicky crackers with the super garlicky tzatziki was awesome! Just don’t expect to get very intimate with anyone after eating this!