tzatziki shrimp cucumber rounds

Tzatziki or tzadziki (Anglicized: pron.: /zɑːdˈziːki/; Greek: τζατζίκι [dzaˈdzici] or [dʒaˈdʒici]; Turkish: cacık [dʒaˈdʒɯk]; Albanian: xaxiq; Persian: ماست و خیار‎) is a Greek and Turkish meze or appetizer, also used as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros. Tzatziki is made of strained yoghurt (usually from sheep or goat milk) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, and sometimes lemon juice, and dill or mint orparsley.^[1] Tzatziki is always served cold. While in Greece and Turkey the dish is usually served as an accompaniment, in other places tzatziki is often served with bread (loaf or pita) as part of the first course of a meal.

I made these appetizers for the Cotton Bowl watch party at our best friend's house.  They are both Aggies, so you know who we were cheering for.  Plus, I have one daughter and a son-in-law that are Aggies and sorry Lynley, one Sooner Nation graduate.  Lynley you were outnumbered and OU you were outplayed.  Supeman - ziel was playing in Jerry World.  (Cowboy Stadium).  He (Johnny Manziel) got to show everyone exactly why he deserved the Heisman award.  I think there just might be a few more in his future. 

Back to my appetizer ~ tzatziki shrimp cucumber rounds.  I stopped after work, grabbed the ingredients and they were done a half hour later.  Recipe from Taste of Home - Healthy Cooking.  one round, 27 calories, 1 g fat.  You will find the recipe below.

The dill Greek yogurt dip was fresh and so easy.  The bacon wrapped shrimp cooked in my frying pan on the stove.  Each shrimp only had a fourth of a slice of bacon wrapped around it.  I was supposed to top each with a sprig of dill.  Sorry, we were late for the pre-game show and left without the sprig.  

Also, I had everything to whip up these too. Blueberries, Greek yogurt topped with almond granola.

Final review - everyone loved them.  Hubby doesn't like cucumbers, so he just plucked the shrimp off each one he ate and left the cucumber behind.  

Recipe below

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup reduced-fat plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled cucumber
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon dill weed
• 6 bacon strips
• 24 peeled and deveined cooked medium shrimp, tails removed
• 2 medium cucumbers, cut into 1/4-in. slices

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, chopped cucumber, garlic salt and dill; set aside.
• Cut each bacon strip in half widthwise and then lengthwise. Wrap a piece of bacon around each shrimp. Secure with toothpicks.
• In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook shrimp in batches over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until bacon is crisp.
• Spoon a rounded 1/2 teaspoon yogurt sauce onto each cucumber slice; top with shrimp. Yield: 2 dozen.

Nutritional Facts1 appetizer equals 27 calories, 1 g fat (trace saturated fat), 18 mg cholesterol, 63 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 3 g protein.

Originally published as Tzatziki Shrimp Cucumber Rounds in Healthy Cooking December/January 2012, p22