Kids Cook Monday- Meatless Greek!

Us Smiths are trying desperately to keep up with the fabulous garden that our previous homeowners have left in our care. Squash, zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes are everywhere and I hate for any of it to go to waste. Soooo, I knew I had to be creative with my meal planning to use up what I had. I like cucumbers, but I maybe can eat one a week. Luckily Brady will snack on them, but that still does not take care of the 4 giant ones we picked last weekend. So, I came up with the idea to make a tzatziki sauce (that yummy greek yogurt sauce you get on gyros!) Normally I would put this sauce on a pita with chicken and tomatoes, but we have been trying really hard to stay meatless on Mondays so I had to think outside the box.

When I checked out in the garden I was greeted by lots of this---

 So, Brady and I got to picking! It was a "fun" game of me picking...and him throwing. He kept repeating, "ball." I guess I can kind of see where he was coming from.

With the produce ready to go I just had to somehow turn it all into a meal.  I was "pinspired" by something I saw on Pinterest and decided to just marinate my veggies in a little olive oil, salt, pepper and dried herbs and then sauteed them up and sprinkled a little parmesan cheese on top. I served it with pita bread and hummus and the delicious tzatziki sauce that helped me use up my abundance of cucumbers.

Here's a version of a tzatziki recipe similar to how I made mine: http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2011/06/visiting-crete-tzatziki-recipe-and-minoan-palace.html

This was a fun easy meal and the best part was that I didn't have to buy all that much because I either had the ingredients in my pantry or in my backyard! I wasn't sure how Brady would like this meal because it was a whole lot of textures going on. Basically I cut the veggies up pretty bite size for him and made little pita sandwiches with the tzatziki and hummus. It was a hit! Now I can officially say, "Yea, my kid eats Greek food." Afterwards I even thought of more ways I could improve on this meal- maybe some yummy black olives, feta cheese, or even marinate the veggies in Greek salad dressing and then grill them.

Hopefully you and your family can get in on the fun of gardening for your dinner. If not, hit up your produce stand and see what kind of new cuisine you can make with it!