Tuesday Night: Finals Chicken Gyros

When I was in college in Athens, Ohio there was a gyro place, called Souvlakis. God it was good.....and expensive. It was, like, $5 for a gyro. That's not such a big deal now, but then, I was a poor college student. I'm not talking about being your typical poor college student, where, after my parents money ran out, I had to not eat out as much. For me, it was like, save up all week for a $1 piece of pizza poor. The only time I didn't work in college was fall quarter, freshman year. After that, I worked constantly. Fortunately, for me, I was kinda good looking and a really good flirt, so going out and having my drinks paid for wasn't a big deal. Food, on the other hand, wasn't so easy to come by. I made a lot of Ramen noodles, mac and cheese, spaghetti. I also did my fair share of mooching off of my sister, who also went to OU my first 2 years there. SOOOO, needless to say, eating at Souvlakis was a big deal. Every quarter, during finals, I would get a chicken gyro, as my reward/incentive for studying. So, chicken gyros have a pretty special place in my heart....and my stomach. The thing that I really liked about their gyros in particular was their tzatziki sauce. (yes, I had to google that word to figure out how to spell it) The other thing I liked about them so much is that they were made with real chicken. Not that processed hunk of chicken that is then sliced into "sheets" of chicken, like most greek places serve.....gross! So, I found this recipe for tzatziki sauce, that most replicates Finals Chicken Gyros......

The sauce is the hardest part, so I always double this recipe to make sure that I have plenty for leftovers. You don't want to have to keep making it.

Grocery List:
sour cream $1.97
mayo (already had)
garlic powder (already had)
lemon juice (already had)
dried dill (already had)
3 cucumbers $2.64
salt (already had)
pepper (already had)
chicken breasts $2.00
greek seasoning (already had)
tomatoes (used left over tomatoes from bruschetta earlier in the week)
lettuce $1.14
cheese (optional, but we had leftover cheese from before too)
flat bread $2.48
Grand total=$10.53

Recipe for cucumber sauce
6 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp mayo
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried dill
1 large cucumber (seeded, peeled and finely chopped or grated. I put it in the food processor)
1 pinch of salt (to taste)
1 pinch of pepper (to taste)

Directions:
1) Put the chopped cucumber into a colander and sprinkle with a little salt.
2) Let rest for 10-15 minutes to allow extra juices to escape the cucumber.
3) Gently squeeze the cucumber in a paper or cloth towel.
4) Put everything in a bowl and mix well
5) Refrigerate for a couple hours prior to using. (you can use it right away if you have to, but letting it sit really pulls the flavor out more)

It's really up to you to make the gyro however you like. We've grilled the chicken before, or broiled it. What we like best is to cut the chicken into bite size pieces and sprinkle greek seasoning over it, then cook it in a skillet with a little olive oil until it's done. Again, you can put whatever toppings you like on your gyro. We put lettuce, tomato, even more cucumber and some cheese. I put parmesan cheese on mine. Eric puts Feta on his. (I don't eat moldy things) Enjoy your gyro, and hopefully you don't have a final that you should be studying for!