Keto friendly recipes: Souvlaki with Tzatziki and Greek Salad

Tzatziki

1/2 a lebanese cucumber

1 clove of garlic

250g pot of plain yoghurt

• Tzatziki is best made the day before as the raw garlic needs time to mature in the yoghurt
• Dice the garlic as finely as you can, place in a bowl with the yoghurt and mix thoroughly
• Dice the cucumbers into small pieces and add to the yoghurt mix, stir thoroughly to coat
• Place in the fridge overnight, before the meal drain off any excess water that has come from the cucumbers and stir again
• Serve in a small bowl or on the side of your meal
• Many yoghurts in the US are non fat, I recommend Brown Cow Plain Creamtop yoghurt which is whole milk and free of Bovine growth hormone, it is also low lactose and I can digest this without lactase

Greek Salad

1 cup of green leaves

1/4 a lebanese cucumber

1/2 a red onion

8 grape tomatoes

10 kalamata olives

100g of herbed goats cheese

• Place the leaves on the base of your plate or bowl
• Cut the cucumber into rounds 
• Dice the onion and slice the tomatoes
• Drain pitted olives
• Place all the vegetables in your bowl 
• Crumble the cheese on top
• If desired dress with a balsamic/olive oil dressing

Souvlaki

500g leg of lamb
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 tbspns of extra virgin olive oil
Salt for seasoning

• Marinate the lamb as long as you can, either over night or from lunchtime for a dinner meal
• Dice the lamb into evenly sized bite sized morsels and place in a bowl
• Season liberally with salt, break the leaves off the rosemary and place in the bowl
• Drizzle the oil on the meat, no need to be precise with the amount just ensuring that the meat is well coated
• Mix through to ensure that the salt, herbs and oil are coated onto each piece
• Place the bowl in the fridge well covered to seal

• The oil may have turned cloudy or solidified due to the cooling, this is normal
• At the time you're ready to cook take the meat out of the fridge and thread the pieces onto skewers
• Leave the meat out to reach room temperature before cooking

• Souvlaki can be cooked in any means you choose, over a wood barbecue is best 
• In my case I'm frying because I've recently moved countries and have limited cooking equipment
• Place flat on one edge of the meat and turn the skewers every 2-3 minutes until the meat is cooked

• Once cooked be sure to leave the meat to rest before serving for around 5 mins
• If you're a bay area local I recommend organic lamb from the Haight St Market

• Whether you're low carb eating or not this is a delicious family meal just perfect on summer evenings. 
• This recipe will serve 2 heartily. 
• If you need your carbs back then serve with Pita and hummus for a delicious do it yourself wrap.