New potatoes with tzatziki

Delicious sauce makes for stellar side dish!

Having first tasted it at a Greek restaurant decades ago, I have been a tzatziki fan for years. It adds such a bright pop of flavour to so many dishes and can also serve to cool the palate when things are spicy. It’s a key element in my fully-loaded souvlaki bowls and I got to thinking recently that I should use it more often, hence this dish. Note that if you can find thick Greek yogurt at the store (or if you make your own), you can skip the step of draining the yogurt to thicken it. And a tip: I put the leftover tzatziki on grilled asparagus and it was delectable.

Ingredients

For the potatoes:

• 2 pounds (1 kg) baby potatoes, scrubbed and halved or quartered per your preference
• 2 tablespoons (15 g) coarse kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) white wine or rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil

For the tzatziki:

• 1 cup (225 g) Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup (75 g) finely grated Persian or English cucumber, packed
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste
• 2 teaspoons (10 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small clove garlic, grated
• Few pinches sea salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, plus more to garnish

Method

• If the yogurt is not already thick, place in a small sieve set over a bowl and let drain for one hour.
• While yogurt drains, squeeze the grated cucumber gently with your clean hands to remove and discard excess water.
• In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and dill; stir to blend well. Cover bowl and transfer to the fridge to chill.
• Prepare potatoes by placing in a large pot of water. Add salt and stir gently. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat slightly to maintain a steady simmer. Cook for 8-10 minutes (time will depend upon size of pieces) until potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife, but not falling apart.
• Drain potatoes in a colander, shaking gently to remove excess moisture. Transfer to a bowl then drizzle first with vinegar; shake to coat evenly. Next, drizzle with olive oil and shake again. Set potatoes aside to cool to room temperature (or refrigerate to speed up the process).
• When ready to serve, spoon about half of the tzatziki mixture over the cooled potatoes. Stir gently and add more tzatziki as needed to coat potatoes generously.
• Garnish with additional dill and serve chilled or at room temperature.
• Leftovers can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Enjoy remaining tzatziki with crudites, sandwiches or grilled chicken.  

Serves 4-6.