quinn's place

my good friend whitney makes this amazing salad.

i try to recreate it sometimes, but its just not the same :) a few weekends ago, i made "whitney's salad" for lunch and snapped a few pics to share its deliciousness with the internet world. hope this isn't a secret family recipe or anything.......

i wanted to call this "the whitney," but that sounds more like a sandwich..? so "whitney's salad" it is.

so many different textures and good flavors combined. nom nom nom.

this salad is just so satisfying and scrumptious!!!! whitney is an awesome chick who i used to work with and then lived with for a few years and we went to nyc together last fall. she's da queen of making super quick dinners that always looked really yummy to me. and she'd often make a similar salad to this one. with perhaps a glass of red wine and some loud dixie chicks/classic hits on the side.

hi whit! great salad making skills you've got!

this is just my interpretation of the whitney salad that i'd see and eat sometimes, but i think the main differences are that:

she would use butter lettuce,

probably no tomato because i don't think she fancies them much,

no avocado? but she likes those. i also think that avo texture rounds out this salad perfectly.

the key whitney-style ingredients are: the banzo beans, salami, peperoncinis, and TJ's fat free balsamic dressing. she introduced me to that dressing and its quite amazing. she always puts the absolute perfect amount on salads, too...how you do dat whit?

Whitney's Salad

Serves 2 // Serve immediately

Time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh spinach, washed and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup cubed salami
3/4 cup garbanzo beans, rinsed
1/4 cup diced peperoncini (i use this kind)
2 tsp. peperoncini juice
1/4 of a green bell pepper, sliced
1/2 a tomato, diced
1/2 an avocado, sliced
1/4 cup Trader Joe's fat-free Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
salt & black pepper, to taste

Instructions-

Chop and slice all veggies and ingredients as listed above and place in a large bowl. Add peperoncini juice and the balsamic dressing and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

thanks for the awesome salad inspiration & friendship, whitdawg! love.

learning how to make simple sauces or foods that you'd normally think to only be store-bought is verrrrrrrry exciting. and liberating, in a way! it helps you to think more creatively about anything else you might be able to make yourself.

i'll probably never go back to buying certain things since i've been teaching myself how to make lots of foods at home. add this delicious tzatziki recipe to that list, along with nut butters, chimichurri, pesto, chicken pot pie, pizza, tortillas, pickled things, etc.

i love love greek food. mmm mmm!

i was studying abroad in greece this time 7 years ago. i can't believe that was s e v e n years ago. i think about all the fun times probably once every day!

would highly recommend visiting greek islands. they're so amazing. 10/10.

SEEEEEEE???? i wanna be there NOW.

ohhh, woe to me. (0:20)

back to ze tzatziki!

first of alllllll, i've got a bone to pick with folks who call this "ta-zee-key." this stuff is "ZAT-zee-key," whereas "ta zee key" sounds like they're going for "tahini" which is a sesame spread. different thangs.

ZAT ZEE KEY, y'all.

it's soooo easy!

if i remembered any greek words i would be sprinkling them throughout here..but all i can come up with is spanish. greek is a hard language, man. all i know is that the words for 'yes' and 'no' sound totally backwards to me. but i can [slowly] read greek!! now dat is krayziki.

i'm a lovah of plain greek yogurt, specifically fage brand. FAH-YAY. although i probably called it fage-like-page for a long time. i use this brand o greek yogurt for sooo many thingsssss! in sweet things, savory things, all the things. its thick and tart and hearty.

a note on the garlic cloves: for this recipe or anything that's going to contain uncooked raw garlic, i would recommend chopping the cloves and quickly tossing them in a teaspoon of olive oil in a hot pan for a couple minutes. it just takes that sharp edge off the garlic and it will not be soo linger-y. because ya know. garrrrrlic will be garlic.

also, don't these cherry tomatoes just look b e a u tiful!? they're kind of out-shining the star of this post, mista ZAT ZEE KEY!

Greek Tzatziki Sauce

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Keep refrigerated

Ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage 2% - I use this brand of Greek yogurt for everything)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice - if some lemon pulp comes out while squeezing the lemon, use that too!
2 garlic cloves
2 TB olive oil
1/2 of a medium-sized cucumber
1 tsp. dill (I used dehydrated here - works the same as when I've used fresh dill)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt (I used 1/4 tsp. garlic salt and 1/4 tsp. sea salt)

Instructions-

In a small food processor or blender, pulse the garlic cloves, olive oil, lemon juice and Greek yogurt until the garlic is chopped up and you can taste that its incorporated.

Add the cucumber, dill, salt and pepper and blend/pulse until everything is well combined.

Enjoy with fresh veggies for dipping, as a dressing on a salad, on gyros, meat & veggie kabobs, burgers, sandwiches, etc!