Tzatziki Sauce

I marinated a pork loin roast in lemon, olive oil, garlic and oregano for the last two days and finally cooked it and I wanted to serve it with a sauce and Tzatziki was requested. My son actually calls it Gyro Sauce since that is what he enjoys for lunch on a regular basis.  This is the simplest of recipes, but I do one thing that most people don't do - I keep the seeds intact and also keep the cucumber juice in the sauce.  I love the pale green color it gives and I think it adds a lot of flavor.  I only do this with a Hothouse cucumber so if you do this with a regular cucumber, you may want to peel that tough (often waxed) skin and take the seeds out too.  I also add red onion along with the garlic as I think it adds more zing. This sauce is wonderful on many roasted meats - lamb, chicken or the pork that I served. I've even used it as a salad dressing - it's that good!

Tzatziki

2 cups plain Greek yogurt

1 Hothouse Cucumber, unpeeled, unseeded and grated fine in a large bowl (with juice)

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Juice of one small Lemon

1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 minced Garlic Clove

2 Tablespoons minced Red Onion

Add the yogurt to the cucumber and stir to blend. Mix in olive oil, garlic, red onion and salt.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours to let the flavors to blend. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Five Element Analysis

Cucumber belongs to the Earth Element and Yogurt to the Metal Element and the garlic and red onion add even more Metal.  The Lemon and Olive Oil  contribute in the Wood Element and the salt adds just a bit of the Water Element.  That's why I served this sauce with Pork, which is a Water food. I also served asparagus to bring in more of the WoodElement.  However, the Fire Element is missing in this sauce so that's why this it is so good with lamb,  a Fire food and it would be good to serve this with some other Fiery or hot foods. So, I served strawberries for dessert to bring in that missing Fire to create a Five Element balance.