Recipe: Tzatziki dip

As the weather starts to turn around, it'll be time to start thinking about barbeques and eating outside.  Tzatziki always seems to find a place somewhere - alongside some souvlaki, the healthy option on a vegetable platter, or simply the dip for pita or chips.  While it's not hard to make, there's a few things you can do to make it extra special.  First, you want a good Greek yogurt - nice and thick, and you can taste the difference.  Second, after grating the cucumber, give it a good squeeze so you aren't adding too much extra liquid (and the juice will colour the yogurt too much).  As much as I love garlic, I like tzatziki to be a cooling element on the table (so I can really spice up the meat), and I keep the garlic to a minimum or leave it out altogether - but that's strictly personal preference.  I also zest the lemons I use and put it in just because I like it lemony and it adds to the texture.  English cucumbers are a bit nicer to use just because their skin is a bit thinner than field cucumbers - I only use the skin, but I'll creatively cut the rest for a salad or vegetable platter.

You will need:

500ml / 2C       good Greek yogurt
1                       large English cucumber
1                       lemon - zest and juice
1                       clove garlic - minced
1 - 2 tsp            chopped fresh dill
to taste             salt
to taste             cracked black pepper

Method:

 - if there is some loose liquid on top of the yogurt, drain it off and set aside in case you want to loosen the dip up later
 - using a small tooth grater, grate all the skin off the cucumber - some of the flesh is ok, just not too much - if the strands are a bit long, give them a bit of a rough chop with a knife
 - squeeze any extra juice out of the cucumber and add it to the yogurt
 - use a microplane to zest the lemon and add it to the yogurt
 - juice the lemon, but set it aside for now
 - mince the garlic and add it to the yogurt
 - chop the dill, add it in and give everything a good mix
 - taste the mix, then use the lemon juice, salt and pepper to season it to your taste
 - store in the fridge for an hour or two to let all the flavours cozy up before serving