Greek Burgers with Tzatziki and Dill Fries

This entire meal was inspired by the Dill Pickle French Fries recipe I stumbled upon on Sarah Matheny’s “Peas and Thank You” blog.  Sarah, aka “Mama Pea,” has a fabulously funny blog about raising her family vegan, and she just this week released her cookbook, chock-full of healthy yummy vegan-y recipes.

Don’t worry ya’ll, I’m not turning vegan on ya any time soon.  My thought process went like this: “Mmm dill fries would be delish with a dill sauce like tzatziki… tzatziki would be yummy on burgers mmmm.”  Notice how quickly red meat pops into my head?

So, I made the fries exactly as Sarah does, except I used fresh dill, since I picked some up at the Verona Farmer’s Market (along with a whole bunch of other delicious goodies):

(AJ will tell ya later about the amazing cocktails he made with those blackberries…mmm)

Tzatziki Sauce – this is better the earlier you make it, so it can sit in the fridge and the flavors blend.  This recipe was way more than enough for 2 people for our burgers and fries:

About 3/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup or so grated cucumber (use little garden or hothouse cukes- the fewers seeds the better.  Grate into a fine strainer, and press as much liquid out as possible.  You’ll end up with a lot of cuke liquid, which you can use with Hendrick’s gin for a lovely cocktail if ya like)

1-2 T chopped fresh dill (to taste)

juice of half a lemon

garlic powder and ground black pepper to taste

2 T olive oil (or enough for the consistency and flavor you like)

mix it all together 

Greek-inspired Burgers – we made 4 burgers, intending to save 2 as leftovers.  We ate 4.  That is why we’re fat.

1 lb ground beef (ground lamb would be more “Greek,” but $7/lb wasn’t worth it for me.  Maybe next time we’ll splurge)

half a red onion, diced

2T fresh mint, chopped

4oz or so Feta cheese, broken up

garlic powder and black pepper – just eyeball it

mix it all together with your hands (or, better yet, your boyfriend’s hands).  Grill.  With all the stuff mixed into these, it tastes better medium, not medium-rare.

To assemble the burger, fold or cut a whole-wheat Pita in half.  Put down some lettuce, then the burger, tzatziki, red onion and tomato.

Nom nom nom!