Chicken Gyros with Cucumber Salsa and Tsatsiki

Last weekend, Tessa was at work all day, studied for classes, and made my class 48 delicious cinnamon rolls. Given her hard work and kindness, I decided I would find a new recipe and make her dinner on Sunday night to show my appreciation. Stating all this, this is the first guest blogger post by Tessa's husband, Derek. Now I am normally the recipient of all the flavorful creations of my wife, but I have watched closely and she has taught me a thing or two about knowing my way around the kitchen!

I found this recipe on my iPhone on the Epicurious application. Tessa and I have been on a HUGE Greek kick the past month or so and it seems every chance we get, we either go out to eat or cook a Greek dish. Tessa is better about trying new dishes than I am and every time I eat Greek food, I have trouble eluding the Gyros!

This recipe is very simple to prepare, but all the time that goes into making the gyros is pretty active. You start by making the Tsatsiki sauce. This can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator to save some prep time. We substituted normal cucumbers that we cut the seeds out of and finely chopped for the Kirby cucumbers the recipe calls for. The grocery store did not have any Kirby cucumbers and the vegetable guy gave the advice on how to use the normal cucumbers. We also left the mint out of the salsa as it is not in season in Nebraska in the middle of January!

All I can say is, judging by Tessa's reaction when she got home from work, this recipe definitely made the cut and I might be making more frequent guest posts!!!

(Printable Recipe)

Chicken Gyros with Cucumber Salsa and Tsatsiki

Recipe from Epicurious iPhone application

Ingredients:
2 Kirby cucumbers, divided
1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt (3/4 pounds)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, divided
5 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped mint
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 rounded teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 (12-ounces) packages naan bread or 4 (8-inch) pocketless pita rounds
1/2 roast chicken , skin discarded, meat shredded (2 1/4 cups)
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced

Preparation of Tsatsiki:
Peel and grate 1 cucumber, then squeeze it with your hands to remove excess water. Stir together with yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, one third of garlic, and 1/4 teaspoons each of salt and pepper to make tsatsiki.

Preparation of Cucumber Salsa:
Cut remaining cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces and stir together with tomatoes, onion, parsley, mint, remaining 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to make salsa.

Gently simmer oil, oregano, rosemary, remaining garlic, 1/4  teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Toss chicken with 3 tablespoons garlic oil and brush one side of bread with remainder.

Heat bread, oiled side up, in a skillet until golden in spots and has an even coloring. Flip bread and repeat on opposite side.

Spread some of tsatsiki on warm bread and top with chicken and some of lettuce and salsa. Serve remaining lettuce, salsa, and tsatsiki on the side.