Ah, the famous Greek sauce… Our daughters absolutely love Tzatziki sauce and use it to dip everything into… veggies, crackers, bread, french fries, you name it. Plant-based options are not easy to find in stores, so that prompted me to get busy making the tastiest vegan option possible.
Last week I was on a Chickpea Fry making mission. They so are easy to make and super tasty. That recipe will be posted soon. I experimented making them 4 times! The cooking methods I used were; baking, air-frying and frying in oil, something I NEVER do. The favourite cooking method was airfrying and the most enjoyed dip for the Chickpea fries was Tzatziki. It even beat out ketchup. Imagine that! (eye roll)
One nice thing about Tzatziki sauce is it contains cucumber, which is high in Vitamin K and promotes hydration. This is perfect for the summertime when gardens are overrun with them. It is also packed with fresh garlic, which is filled with antioxidants. Garlic also reduces the number of colds and boosts the function of the immune system.
By removing the standard dairy, (sour cream and yogourt) from tzatziki, and substituting a store bought plant-based version, this dip becomes vegan in a snap. If my daughter can devour the full recipe in a couple of sittings, trust me, it tastes like the real thing! Your body won’t miss the hormones, antibiotics and saturated fat that accompanies regular tzatziki.
For a light version, (but still daughter approved), go for a very mild tasting almond or soy based ‘plain’ yogourt. For a little thicker tzatziki, use both a plant-based sour cream and yogourt together in the recipe. The sour cream will add a richer consistency, but also a higher fat content.
Tzatziki sauce memories
In the title, I mentioned an eating disorder. This recipe jogged a memory from 25 years ago, when we lived in Sarnia, Ontario. My husband’s boss’s wife was a vibrant, vivacious little 28 year old Italian gal who, though slightly older than me, was much, much younger than him. You could say she was a kept woman. In return, she kept his shirts pressed and everything exactly in order. The marriage didn’t last as you may have guessed. She loved to cook and taught classes at the local college. She was about 85 pounds soaking wet and stood about 5 feet tall. When going through my cookbooks the other day, I found a recipe booklet she had written for one of her cooking classes. She was so passionate about food, while unfortunately being plagued by an eating disorder. We would go out for lunch and she would excuse herself right after eating, to head for the ladies’ room. She would cook lavish meals for us in their home, only eating a tiny bit, then disappear. I believe she was bulimic. I remember watching her walk, wondering how her tiny little legs could carry her weight. We lost touch over the years, but I heard she passed away in 2018. Likely her body just couldn’t deal with the daily trauma anymore. So sad. Such a vibrant life taken decades too early.
It was her recipe that I modified to make this Tzatziki sauce. She was a huge gardener and was passionate about plants. We had that in common, though at 25 I was too young to have discovered that about myself. I remember her touring me around her herb garden. There were only the two of them, but her Italian background had her growing enough for the whole neighborhood and her students. She was only 52 when she passed away. Such a shame. I often wonder if things could have been different for her it she had embraced plant-based eating. Perhaps the ability to maintain a normal weight while not making oneself hungry all the time would have helped ease her suffering. I know it’s more complicated than that, but… No one will ever know.
This recipe goes out to you G. Friend, you taught me many things… to treat my body with the love it deserves and to see the beauty and importance in the everyday task of preparing wholesome food for others.
This plant-based Tzatziki recipe is full of herbs that can be added fresh, dried, or a mixture, depending on the season. It can be made and kept in the fridge for up to a week, if it lasts that long!
I truly hope you try this and enjoy it. It tastes amazing on chickpea or falafel Greek wraps. That recipe is in the works and will be coming soon!
www.thevibrantveggie.com
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