Mediterranean Bowls and Tzatziki Sauce

I bought some quinoa to try because I've heard good things about it, but I wasn't sure how to use it so it just sat in my cupboard for a while. Then my friend told me about how she made Mediterranean bowls for dinner one night, and kind of like Hawaiian haystacks or homemade pizza, you can really customize things however you like, so I thought it might be a great way for the boys to be happy while trying something new.

Scott and I were pleased with the meal, however, we did think our personal preference would be to use brown rice for the base instead of quinoa. The quinoa was very similar to rice (not super flavorful unless you add things to it, which makes it good for a base) except it was much smaller and more "seed-like" in texture. Once cooked, it was soft like cooked rice, but it still had that small seed-like feel to it.

Tzatziki is a nice cool, refreshing dill and cucumber sauce made from yogurt (some recipes call for sour cream or a combination of the two), so kind of like a ranch sauce but different.

Mediterranean Bowls and Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki Sauce:

• 1 cup whole-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup finely chopped or shredded cucumber
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill or 1 tsp. dry dill
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, optional for heat

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, oil, and lemon juice. Add cucumber, garlic, and dill; season with salt, black pepper, and red pepper.
• Serve with pita and vegetables (if using). Tzatziki can be made 4 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.

Mediterranean Bowls:

• grilled meat of choice (see note below)
• cooked brown rice or quinoa (and/or lettuce if making your bowl more like a salad)
• feta cheese, crumbled
• Tzatziki sauce
• veggies of choice (chick peas, black beans, sliced olives, carrot shreds, diced cucumber, diced red onion, etc.)
• lemon wedges
• Pita bread (or Naan) on the side

Directions:

1. Prepare your grilled meat of choice. We used chicken breasts that had been marinating for a day in just a little cooking oil, splash of lemon, and Green Goddess seasoning, but you can use any meat you like. Then we grilled our chicken until cooked and diced it up.
2. Build your bowl by laying your desired ingredients over the top of your base. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the entire bowl, if desired. Serve with a piece of pita bread.

Marsha's Notes:

I felt like the squeeze of lemon really brought out a lot of flavor in the dish, because the chicken, quinoa, feta, and lots of the veggies weren't exactly the most flavorful. Also, use enough Tzatziki sauce to add more flavor and creaminess to the dish. The sauce and the lemon (along with your chicken if seasoned properly) are really where most of the flavor comes from unless you use strong flavored veggies, such as red onion.

Because the quinoa was so... bland... I am considering cooking it in chicken broth next time instead of water. But for my first experience, I really wanted to just follow the package directions. Once cooked and taste-tested, I did add some salt, pepper, and garlic butter to the quinoa to help it out some, but only because I had some garlic butter to use up. 

Everyone really liked the chicken, but most of us are more familiar with rice and thought that brown rice would be a more comfortable option for us in the future instead of the quinoa.

I got my Green Goddess seasoning at Trader Joe's. If you can't find it, Trader Joe's Green Goddess Seasoning Blend contains dried minced onion, salt, granulated garlic, ground black pepper, dried chives, dried green onion, spinach powder, dried parsley, lemon juice powder, and safflower oil, so you can just use some of the same seasonings to kind of get the same idea... or there are also a lot of other seasoning/marinade packets that would work just as well, including some labeled as "Mediterranean."