We recently opened our Fresh Collective studio, which happens to be located right in the heart of downtown Tarpon Springs, a city in Florida with a huge influx of Greek influence, inspiration, people, flavors and more. So, basically there is amazing Greek food all around us. While I love getting out to try these eateries, I’ve also been trying to create more at home and since the weather here jumped straight from Floridian winter cold fronts into summer heat, we decided a refreshing and light Greek salad with tzatziki dressing and chicken was just what we needed!
As far as Greek influence on my cooking goes, I’ve made hummus and then this amazing twist on the classic with white beans is something we whip up often, but other than that I’m a novice. Thankfully tzatziki might be hard to pronounce, but it’s fairly simple to make! This dressing is a creamy and tangy take on the traditional gyro sauce and really balances out the combination of fresh and colorful veggies, juicy seasoned chicken and the salty bite of feta cheese. It’s simple to make, delicious to eat and definitely refreshing on these hot days we’re experiencing. We shared with my parents who loved it, my kids loved it and kept asking for more, hubby and I loved it… so far we’re batting 1000. Plus, for me, I get to feel like I’m assimilating something from the Greek culture around me. 😉 A girl can pretend, right?
It’s always easier for us to really love a recipe when we know we can feel good about it AND it tastes great. This salad is full of so much flavor and I can even be proud of the ingredients I used in the dressing, like BluePlate Light Greek which is the only mayonnaise made with Greek yogurt and offers protein as a nutrient while containing half the fat of regular mayo. Along with the mayo, this dressing as easy as throwing garlic, olive oil, greek yogurt, chopped cucumber and lemon juice into the blender. I think I may just be able to replace my ranch obsession!!
And of course, I needed something to balance out my current sweet tooth and regular schedule of baking, sweet treat making. Cheesecake ice cream and my s’mores recipes needed a refreshing challenger to cancel them out! 
- 1/2 C plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/4 C Blue Plate Mayo with Greek yogurt (or other mayo of choice)
- 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1/2 red onion, sliced
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 2 chicken breasts, seasoned with Greek (or can use Italian) seasoning
- 1/2 C feta cheese
- Combine all ingredients for dressing in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Cover and chill.
- Season chicken breast with seasoning or marinate. Cook on the grill, or over medium heat in a skillet. Slice into strips.
- Toss lettuce, bell pepper, red onion, cucumber, chicken and feta cheese. Serve into bowls and drizzle with Tzatziki dressing.
- Enjoy!
- Serve with slice pita bread or use crushed pita chips to add crunch to your salad.
Make sure to check out Blue Plate’s website for some of their own great recipes, including Shrimp Tzatziki, Spicy Chicken Salad Sandwhiches and Charred Broccoli Salad created by award winning Chef Alon Shaya of Shaya Restaurant out of New Orleans.
Join the conversation:
Have you every tried cooking a recipe inspired from a different region or country? What has your favorite been?
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Enjoy!
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Blue Plate® Mayonnaise. All text, images and content is my own. Thank you for supporting the companies that support this blog.
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