As August is the vacation month in Greece, no one wants to stay at home, although we are not going on vacation. However, living near the seaside, we do enjoy going to the beach almost everyday. We go early in the morning and by the time we get back to have breakfast, shower, wash towels and bathing suits, cook and eat, it’s almost afternoon. A siesta is a must here in Greece because it’s very hot, especially during July and August and only some free time late in the afternoon.
For this reason, instead of going on a hiatus, I will be posting a few easy recipes.
If you have a garden and see these weeds, do not pluck and throw them away. It’s purslane, which is a herb packed with vitamins and Omega 3 fatty acids.
We have a lot growing in our garden so I will be sharing a few recipes, in other posts, showing you how you can use it.
Well, the easiest way is to incorporate it is in your other salads, especially Greek salad as it pairs well with it.
Avocado is such a healthy fruit as well, so why not add it in tzatziki and get advantage of the valuable nutrients and fibre. Instead of adding mayonnaise in your sandwiches, add a tablespoon or two of this avocado tzatziki, which will transform your food into something much tastier and healthy. It is essential that the avocado is ripe before using (excerpt and picture from a different avocado recipe, in my Cookbook “More than a Greek Salad“).
This dip is another twist of mine on the classic Greek Tzatziki dip but with a milder taste, as I used roasted garlic. Instead of cucumber, I used purslane and of course avocado, which is also a rich sorce of Omega-3. Since avocado has its own healthy fat, I skipped the olive oil. I used pink Himalayan salt, which also has a lot of health benefits, but if you don’t have any, you can substitute it with coarse sea salt.
This dip is excellent with any kind of grilled or roasted meat but also in salads. This time, I served it with Greek Mpiftekia and Mushroom Sauce and healthier Greek roasted potatoes, in parchment paper.
The taste of this avocado dip is just amazing and trust me, you will be making it over and over again!
Minty, Avocado and Purslane Tzatziki
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 200 ml Greek Yoghurt 2%
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 tsp roasted garlic, mashed
- ½ tsp Himalayan salt (or use coarse sea salt)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup purslane leaves, finely chopped
- Fresh mint leaves, finely chopped (about 1 tbsp)
Directions:
- Mash the garlic with the salt.
- In a bowl add the avocado, garlic and lemon juice and mix to combine.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix.
You can find many more Greek recipes in my cookbook “More Than A Greek Salad”, and “Mint, Cinnamon & Blossom Water, Flavours of Cyprus, Kopiaste!” both available on all Amazon stores.
Other relevant recipes:
Purslane Salad, Purslane Tzatziki and Carrot Tzatziki (in one post)
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,
Simona
Sunday 17th of August 2014
Nice use of purslane! I like that you used avocado too. I wish it grew in my garden. I sometimes get it at the farmers' market.
Daphne
Thursday 7th of August 2014
Good Morning Ivy, How lovely to meet you. I have never used purslane, although I know a lot of my friends done, so I was interested to read how you used it. I shall have to see if I can grow purslane here in England. I love the idea of using avocado in tzatsiki as I love tzatsiki and avocados. I was interested to read that you use Himalyan salt, as I am going to be writing a post about this salt in the near future. My daughter lives in India and brought me some Himalyan salt when she last visited, which I am looking forward to using. It is lovely to meet you and I look forward to catching up with your other posts. Best Wishes to you. Daphne
Ivy
Thursday 7th of August 2014
I am really glad to meet you as well Dafne. I'll be adding you to my blogroll and subscribe to your feeds so that I'll get updated with your posts as well. I'll try to find you on facebook as well :)
Rosa
Tuesday 5th of August 2014
A great recipe! This tzatziki must taste fantastic.
Cheers,
Rosa