I wanted to offer you guys some slimming, tried-and-true soup recipes. Alas, my first attempt at a new recipe, Greek Eggplant and Zucchini Soup from The Soup Bible, was only mediocre. We don’t do mediocre at TFT.

On the upside, it came with a new, improved recipe for Tzatziki. Even better, it gave me the idea of using tzatziki as a refreshing condiment for soup. Who’da thunk it?

In the future I can see myself using tzatziki to sex up a variety of soups: tomato, chicken noodle, vegetable beef. Fancy!

Here’s the tzatziki recipe. Besides being a soup condiment, it’s great for topping curries, broiled salmon or chicken, hamburgers, or for filling out a meat-stuffed pita pocket.

CREAMY TZATZIKI
from The Soup Bible, a great big book with awesome pictures.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cuke
2 tsp salt (it’s on the salty side so you may want to start with 1 tsp and add to taste)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 cup yogurt
small bunch of fresh mint, chopped (or 1 tbsp dried)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Chop the cucumber into a small dice, salt, and drain in a colander for 30 minutes.
2. Mix the garlic and vinegar, and stir into the yogurt, along with everything else except the cucumber.
3. Pat the cucumber dry and add it to the mix. Salt to taste.