A nice easy dinner for a nice Spring day...

Remember the magazine challenge from Suzy at Kitchen Bouquet from last week? Maybe two weeks ago? I really like that challenge. I have tons of magazines with dog-eared pages and post-its coming out the top! Time to try another magazine recipe! We did the grocery shopping early and of course had another list two hours later after I looked at that pile of magazines. Had my heart set on this Greek style recipe from the March issue Gourmet. Chicken Gyro's with Cucumber Salsa and Tsatsiki. Awesome! Searched through epicurious to find a soup to go with it. Found an easy Avgolemono that was good, just needed some tweaking! It needed way more than 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, I thought. So I added more!

Avgolemono Soup
by Victoria Granof (Cookie, April 2009, Epicurious.com)

4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup uncooked orzo (or rice or pastina)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 eggs
3 tablespoons lemon juice

In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil.

Add the orzo, rice, or pastina and cook until tender but still al dente, about 7 minutes (20, if using rice). Season with the salt and pepper and reduce heat to low; simmer.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and lemon juice until smooth.

Ladle about 1 cup of the hot broth into the egg-and-lemon mixture, then whisk to combine.

Add the mixture back to the simmering saucepan. Stir just until the soup becomes opaque and thickens as the eggs cook, 1 to 2 minutes. Add more salt and pepper, if desired, and serve.

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The gyro's were a really big hit! I used a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. We all loved them. Big, big hit! I used pocketless pitas, whole wheat. Pretty much my only change was toadd a splash of red wine vinegar to the salsa. No one else likes Tsatsiki, but I do and it was a nice recipe. I just added a little more lemon. Everyone else slopped their gyro's with hummus from Trader Joe's! The whole thing took almost no time to prepare, and it will definitely be on the table again and again.

Chicken Gyros with Cucumber Salsa and Tsatsiki
by Kay Chun (Gourmet, March 2009)

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 oregano
1 rounded teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 (12-ounces) package naan bread (four 8-inch pieces)
or 4 (8-inch) pocketless pita rounds
1/2 roast chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded (about 2 1/4 cups), and carcass reserved for stock
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced

Preheat broiler.

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 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to make tsatsiki.

Cut remaining cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces and stir together with tomatoes, onion, parsley, mint, remaining 1/2 teaspoon 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 4-sided sheet pan, covered with foil, 3 to 4 inches from broiler 3 minutes. Uncover and broil, rotating bread for even coloring, until golden in spots, about 2 minutes.

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.


Slice and bake sugar cookies for dessert! Rolled in sprinkles. Overbaked but not burned. I'm getting there. Sort of!

and today was a really nice Spring day! Tomorrow it's rain. and probably a restaurant! Maybe next week a cookbook challenge. I have hundreds of those. Not far from the magazine pile.

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