Greek Veggie Gyros with Spicy Yogurt Sauce

I like Greek food whenever I eat it, but I seldom make Greek dishes at home – there are too many cuisines I like better out there. All that said, I do eat Mediterranean food occasionally and I took inspiration from two recent recipes I had made and mashed them together to create a healthy and tasty vegetarian meal – Greek veggie gyros with yogurt sauce!

If I had to rank order Laurie’s and my favorite cuisines, the ones at the top would be Italian, Mexican, Spanish, American, Thai, and Chinese. Mediterranean and Greek food wouldn’t make the cut – they’d fall somewhere in the middle, with Middle Eastern, Indian, and Ethiopian cuisine bringing up the rear. But that’s not to say we don’t enjoy Mediterranean cuisine – we actually do! So why is it so far down on our list? Well, I think it has something to do with our dislike of some of the essential ingredients used in Mediterranean cooking.

For example, neither Laurie nor I like lamb that much. Laurie hates olives, and we both can eat feta but only enjoy the really mild versions.  And that’s just a few examples. What we DO like about Mediterranean cuisine is the extensive use of vegetables in the dishes, along with the traditional spices (garlic, onion, cumin, paprika, etc.). We also like the health benefits of eating a Mediterranean diet every so often – it’s heart healthy, good for weight control, and can even lower blood pressure and help prevent some cancers.

Recently, we had a Greek salad for dinner one night, and pork gyros with yogurt-tomato sauce, red onion, and spinach (a Bobby Flay recipe). Both were great, so I decided to combine aspects of the two dishes to make a healthy Greek veggie gyro with homemade yogurt sauce – yum! Nice thick pitas are the key here – instead of wrapping the filling with the pita, I like filling the pita and eating it like a sandwich. “Pickling” the veggies makes them shine as the star in the dish, while the yogurt sauce provides a creamy touch.

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think, and Kali Orex (or Bon Appetit in Greek)! 

Greek Veggie Gyros with Spicy Yogurt Sauce (Serves 4)

This is a vegetarian take on the traditional gyro that usually includes lamb, beef, or chicken. Enjoy these gyros with a nice crisp and dry white Greek wine.

Ingredients

1 large yellow or orange bell pepper

3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

½ medium red onion, sliced thin

¾ of a seedless English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into ½-inch slices

3-4 Roma tomatoes, cored and seeded and then chopped into ½ inch pieces

¼ cup sliced and pitted Kalamata olives

¼ cup crumbled mild feta cheese (or more to taste)

4 large fresh pitas

1 recipe spicy yogurt sauce (see recipe below)

Directions

Preheat a grill on high for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the bell pepper into four pieces and brush with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Place peppers on grill and cook for about 8 minutes, turning once until lightly charred on both sides. Let cool and then cut into ¼-inch thick strips.

In a medium bowl, combine the remaining oil and vinegar and whisk until emulsified. Add the peppers, red onion, cucumber, and tomatoes and let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the spicy yogurt sauce (see recipe below).

Add the olives and feta to the vegetables in the bowl and stir to combine. Cut a 1-inch slice off the side of each pita and separate the pita to form a pocket. Spread some of the yogurt sauce on each side of the pita pocket and then fill the pocket with the pickled veggies. Serve with additional yogurt sauce for dipping!

Spicy Yogurt Sauce (Serves 4)

The yogurt sauce has a nice spicy flavor courtesy of the Fresno chili which complements the tartness of the yogurt and the savoriness of the cucumber and dill. It’s a great accompaniment for Greek veggie Gyros or really any sandwich – use it as a substitute for mayonnaise, or as a dipping sauce for a vegetable plate!

Ingredients

5 oz. plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup finely grated cucumber

1 garlic clove, minced

1 red Fresno chili, seeded and diced small

1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh dill

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients above into a medium bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving to give the flavors time to meld.