Cool as a Cucumber (Tzatziki recipe!)

Is there something about pita chips that make people feel like they're kind of healthy? Because they're really not at all. They're like wide, flat white-bread croutons, and, honestly, you'd do better to eat straight junk food. (Our friend Ava used to refer to them as her boyfriend.) That said, they're so good with tzatziki.

What's it been like where you are? Did you want to hear about the heat here? About how our oven spontaneously stopped working, as if in protest, and the spring-fed pond where we went swimming was actually about as cool and refreshing as a tropical swamp? About the salads and smoothies we've been having for dinner? It's like that. Tonight we are joining friends for ftour, which is the meal that breaks the daily Ramadan fast, and I am bringing this. Cool, cucumbery, refreshing.

When Michael saw me with my camera, he said, "Are you kidding? Have your really never posted your tzatziki recipe?" And it is so strange, but it seems to be true. It's like, "What? Kerri Strug? You're a vaulter?" At various times of my life, this is the recipe I've been most locally famous for. Which means, I think, that my friends Becky and Kathleen maybe once asked for it. But still. I have made it probably 50 or 60 million times, and every time I think of Vasili's Greek restaurant in Santa Cruz. Sigh. It's creamy and crunchy, herby and garlicky and cool, and you'll love it.

We are heading out to camp on the Cape for a week. See you in line at the clam shack! Take care, lovelies.

xo

Tzatziki

Makes 2-3 cups

1 cup plain Greek yogurt, whole or 2%

¾ teaspoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 tablespoons delicious olive oil + more for drizzling

1/3 cup finely chopped mix of mint and dill

1 English cucumber, seeded and finely diced

Mix together everything but the cucumber until well blended, then stir in the cucumber and taste for seasoning. Scoop into a pretty plate, drizzle with olive oil, and garnish prettily with herbs. Serve with pita chips, bread, veggies, or on a composed salad plate with pickled beets, tabouli, hummus, and pita wedges. (I just made up that last part, but it sounds great, right?

I know you're busy ogling my olive oil. Which is from Marshall's! I know. That's how fancy I am. Why buy discounted underpants, when you could buy real imported olive oil that maybe has something wrong with it?

Cucumber, edited. I know it seems picky, but trust me. The seeds will make your tsatsiki watery and gross.

Cucumber, diced.

Herbs. You could use even more. I added a nice feathery dill head because I didn't have enough fronds, and it actually tasted lovely.

Yum. If you use whole milk yogurt, it's even better. Although this is really good.

I think it's not technically supposed to be this chunky, but I like it like this--like a cross between dip, salad and salad.