Mediterranean turkey and zucchini burgers recipe

mediterranean turkey and zucchini burgers | pamela salzman

I’m a happy mama since I picked up Mr. Picky from sleepaway camp on Saturday.  13 days is just too long for me to be apart from that guy.  I have been enjoying all the stories, hanging on every word as if he traveled around the world.  Bless his heart, Mr. Picky “snuck” some food from camp to bring to my husband and me.  Thankfully, it was from breakfast the morning he left and not from last week.  From his backpack he pulled out a paper cup with a few pieces of melon for me and a cup with mini cinnamon buns mixed with tater tots for my husband.  What does that tell you?

grated zucchini

While Mr. Picky can’t stop talking about his counselors, his bunk mates and all the competitions in which he participated, I had to find out about the food.  What was your favorite dinner?  Did you eat any vegetables?  What did you drink?  Blah, blah, blah.  I’m so predictable, but I have no self control.  I have to give the camp props that soda is not served.  I don’t know if I could handle that.

that's everything!

So what I have gathered is that Mr. Picky didn’t eat any protein at breakfast ever since, go figure, the camp doesn’t serve Organic Pastures Raw Organic Milk, and Mr. Picky still doesn’t eat eggs or cheese.  And it also sounds like the only vegetable he ate was cucumber.  So we have some catching up to do!  One thing that my son loves is any type of burger, even veggie burgers.  I made these turkey burgers the week before he left and he loved them so they’re going on the dinner menu again this week.  It’s another winner recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s “Jerusalem” cookbook.

12 patties

yogurt-sumac sauce

If you’re bored with plain burgers, these are so different and delicious.  And a great way to make a (small) dent in your zucchini crop.  They are moist, herby and they’ve got a great kick to them.  If spicy isn’t your thing, you may want to cut back to a pinch of cayenne.  Although if you make the sumac sauce, which is delicious, it really cuts the heat from the burgers.  But I’m not really doing dairy these days and Mr. Picky didn’t want any sauce, so I only made half the recipe for the sauce and I thought it was the perfect amount.  I also didn’t use traditional buns when I made these.  Bread will just detract from the tastiness of these burgers!  Instead we ate them on lettuce leaves with some chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, right up my alley.  Of course if you want a more traditional burger, you can probably get 6 “standard” size patties and pile them onto buns with all your favorite fixings.  Delish!

mediterranean turkey and zucchini burgers | pamela salzman

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A post shared by Pamela Salzman (@pamelasalzman)


Mediterranean turkey and zucchini burgers recipe
Author: 
Serves: 4-6 (Makes about 18 1½ ounce burgers or 12 2½ ounce burgers)
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground turkey (I like dark meat)
  • 1 large zucchini, coarsely grated (scant 2 cups)
  • 3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped mint
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (perfect for us, but the original recipe called for ½ teaspoon; you can use even less if you don’t want them spicy)
  • unrefined olive oil, coconut oil or ghee for searing

  • For the Sour Cream & Sumac Sauce:
  • Scant ⅓ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
  • Scant ¼ cup sour cream (or use all Greek yogurt)
  • ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • ½ Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • ½ small clove garlic, grated or minced
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sumac
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Make the sour cream and sumac sauce by placing all the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well and set aside or chill until needed.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the patties except the olive oil. Mix gently with your hands and then shape into about 18 burgers, each weighing about 1 ½ ounces or 12 burgers, each weighing about 2 ½ ounces.
  3. Pour enough oil into a large frying pan to form a layer about 1/16 inch thick on the pan bottom. Heat over medium heat until hot, then sear the patties in batches on both sides. Cook each batch for about 5-7 minutes on each side, adding oil as needed, until golden brown and cooked through.
  4. Serve warm or at room temperature, with the sauce spooned over or on the side.

 

 

Chocolate Banana Almond Flour Muffins with Chia Seeds Recipe (Gluten-free & Passover Friendly)

Chocolate Banana Chia Seed Muffins with Almond Flour | Pamela Salzman

There’s a new (but not really new) diet in town which everyone is talking about called the Paleolithic Diet or Paleo, for short.  Sometimes it’s referred to as the Caveman or Hunter-Gatherer Diet and it focuses on the foods humans ate pre-industrial agriculture.  The idea is that our bodies recognize certain foods and haven’t evolved to recognize other newer foods so we should stick to what was eaten during the Paleolithic time to be healthy and fit.  The diet allows lean grass-fed and pastured meats, eggs, nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables, coconut, avocado and healthy fats.  Easy, right?  But the diet does not allow anything processed or refined (like sugar, flour, packaged food), or any grains (wheat, rice, barley, etc.), legumes (beans, lentils), dairy, potatoes or processed oils.  I am not encouraging or discouraging this diet, which I think has its pros and cons, but merely giving a quick explanation since I’ve received a few questions about it recently.

all the dry ingredients

As I have noticed more and more people limiting gluten and grains, I have also noticed the increased popularity and use of almond flour, which is finely milled blanched almonds.  Almonds, like all nuts and seeds, are gluten-free, low in carbohydrates and high in protein.  Whereas nuts and seeds, generally speaking, can be slightly acid-forming, almonds are alkalizing.

I love Medjool dates!  Dice them when they're cold -- much easier.

A few years ago I found Elana Amsterdam’s great gluten-free website, www.elanaspantry.com, which I think started the almond flour revolution.  Elana has since turned paleo, and all her newer recipes follow those guidelines.  It’s really because of her website that I was inspired to experiment with almond flour and although I have had mixed results, overall I think it’s awesome once I figured out how to work with it.  I think it’s great to add some variety to our diet and I love getting some extra protein into Mr. Picky.  Almond flour also comes in handy around Passover, 8 days of no grains or legumes, except Matzoh which can start to get a tad boring after a few days.

Add dates to combined dry ingredients

I had a really delicious Chocolate Banana Chia Seed muffin at Le Pain Quotidian last year or the year before and I was intent on duplicating it.   The muffin was moist with the perfect amount of sweetness and I loved the crunch from the chia seeds.  They were kind enough to tell me the ingredients (although not the exact recipe) and I made a tasty version at home with whole wheat pastry flour and maple syrup.  The kids thought they were great!  When I tried using almond flour in place of the wheat flour, we all went crazy for them.  The almond flour version of the muffin was the best — super moist, chocolaty and a little denser, but in a good way.  Now when I make these muffins, I always use almond flour!

it's good to break up the date pieces

pour in the wet mixture

Before you start substituting almond flour one-for-one for wheat flour, stop right there.  It isn’t a perfect substitution.  Almond flour has no gluten, but does contain way more fat than wheat flour so there are a few adjustments to be made.  I would stop by Elana’s Pantry for a quick lesson on how almond flour works.  I also have found that specifically labeled “almond flour” is better than “almond meal” (like Bob’s Red Mill.)  Per Elana, I started buying almond flour from Honeyville Grain, which has a very good, fresh product and a very reasonable shipping fee ($4.50 flat rate.

fold in the mashed banana

batter with the mashed bananas

These muffins are not technically Paleo due to the yogurt, although if you can find an unsweetened almond milk yogurt, that would work here.  Or you can try making these without the yogurt and just add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, although I have never done it and can’t guarantee the results.  I’m really posting these as a great gluten-free, Happy Passover muffin, although I make these all year.  In fact I made these recently and Daughter #2 had a few friends over and they inhaled half the batch in 2 minutes.  (I’m telling you, if you want the kids to hang out at your house, you need FOOD.)  To make this more of a dessert, you can certainly substitute chocolate chips for the diced dates.  The chia seeds are fun and obviously nutritious, but there’s less than 1 teaspoon per muffin so it’s not a dealbreaker if you want to omit them.

using an ice cream scoop makes this easy

ready for the oven

As always, I love hearing about your experiments in the kitchen and would especially be interested to know about your experience with almond flour or your favorite Passover treats.  Once again, I’m on dessert duty for Passover and I’m getting busy right now.  This weekend I will be making loads of Macaroons, both plain and dipped in chocolate, the Lemon Ice Torte which I have been making since 1991, and a raw cashew “cheesecake” which I will have to share another time.  There is also a recipe on my site for a (vegan) Coconut Tart with Strawberries which is perfect for Passover and Easter.  Lots of delicious options!

also delicious warm out of the oven!

Chocolate Banana Almond Flour Muffins with Chia Seeds
Author: 
Serves: makes 12 muffins
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ¾ cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal – I use Honeyville)
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 2 Tablespoons of chia seeds + 1 Tablespoon for muffin tops
  • ½ cup diced pitted dates, about 7 dates (easier to dice when they’re cold) (optional, or ½ cup chocolate chips)
  • 4 Tablespoons melted unrefined coconut oil
  • 4 Tablespoons whole unsweetened yogurt
  • ⅓ cup 100% pure maple syrup or honey
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with unbleached parchment liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and 2 Tablespoons chia seeds.  Add dates and break up pieces so they don’t stick together.
  3. In a blender, combine coconut oil, yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla.
  4. Pour wet mixture into bowl with dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Fold in mashed bananas.
  5. Divide the batter into the prepared pan.  (An ice cream scoop makes this job easy.)  Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out  clean.

 

Hot spinach artichoke dip recipe

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!   Even though you haven’t heard from me in a few days, I have been cooking up a storm nonetheless!  We arrived in NY to visit my family and between Christmas Eve for 79 people to breakfast-lunch-dinner for our clan of 15 every day, I’ve been busy in the kitchen.  What has been fun is the team effort.  My sisters, my mom and I have been planning and preparing together which really is the only way when you’re trying to figure out what to make that most everyone will like.  My husband is actually pitching in as I type this and making baked ziti with my mother for tonight’s dinner.  It is seriously hilarious listening to him explain his “method” to my Italian mother.  Also nice to have the night off so I have a few minutes to write something for you lovely readers!

I always find at this time of year many of my friends and students are looking for a winner hors d’oeuvre for all the entertaining and football-watching they do.  I have quite a few on the site already and you can check out the segments I did for our local news the last two years, but I would love to share this popular (although I wouldn’t say the most healthful) dip that is always very popular.  Hot spinach artichoke dip is something my husband and my kids love to share in a restaurant.  They somehow rationalize all the sour cream and cheese with the presence of spinach in there.  This is a lighter version, but still warm, creamy and tastes just like the one you’ve had at your favorite restaurant.  My kids like to scoop this onto crostini, pita chips or even tortilla chips.  Although I’ve eaten the dip with sweet bell pepper strips  and blanched cauliflower, I think they probably had the better idea.

I know you busy you all are and what you really want to know is how you can do this ahead of time so you you’re as relaxed as Ina when her guests arrive.  Oh how I’d love to be invited over for cocktails and cards with Ina!  But I digress.  You will blend this whole concoction together in no time — no sauteeing or blanching — and keep it covered in the fridge until the next day when you want to serve it.  Then uncover it and bake it for about 25 minutes until hot and melted and bubbly.  I usually time this to be ready about 15 minutes after I’ve told my guests to arrive since no one these days shows up exactly on time, including yours truly.  This dip is really best served hot and because there’s cheese in it, the longer it sits out, the more it firms up.  So it’s best if you don’t have this out too early.  I also recommend if you’re going to make a few for a longer cocktail party or football game to stagger them about an hour apart so you can serve a nice hot one a few times.  Very recently I discovered a new and incredible way to eat leftovers of this dip — blended with beaten eggs and baked as a frittata, which is this photo right below.

Leftovers can be mixed with beaten egg and baked into a frittata

Now you can have your fabulous hors d’oeuvre for New Year’s Eve and the beginnings of an amazing New Year’s Day breakfast.  Does it get any better than this???

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Author: 
Serves: makes about 3¾ cups or enough for about 8 people
 
Ingredients
  • 10 ounces artichoke hearts frozen, defrosted or packed in water, drained
  • ¼ cup chopped shallots
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (I do this in a thin clean kitchen towel) or 10 ounces fresh spinach, steamed in a little water until wilted and excess water squeezed out
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt
  • ½ cup Vegenaise or mayonnaise (I use soy-free Vegenaise.)
  • ⅔ cup grated Pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (I use Pecorino.)
  • 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a food processor, coarsely chop the artichoke hearts with the shallots and garlic.
  3. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl.
  4. Place in a 9 or 10-inch oven-proof dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, until hot and cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
Notes
Notes: this obviously has a lot of dairy, but it *may* be possible to make this dairy-free with vegan mozzarella (Violife has a good one) and vegan Parmesan and vegan yogurt (Forager cashew yogurt or Kite Hill coconut yogurt may work.)

You can assemble this in the baking dish the night before, remove from the refrigerator before you preheat the oven so it's not ice cold, and then bake.

 

 

My favorite tuna salad

Well people, sandwich season is upon us and I’m proposing that we branch out and see if we can avoid making peanut butter and jelly everyday.  In fact, I know many of you are in nut-free schools and can’t rely on the old standby at all.  On the other hand, luncheon meats freak me out a bit — and not for any scientific reason.  I just can’t get past the idea that this turkey was cooked who knows when and squished and reformed into this new product with lots of “natural flavors.”  I’d rather poach or grill organic chicken breasts and give the kids chicken sandwiches, which is exactly what I do and I save a little money while I’m at it.

As for me, I’m not much of a sandwich eater, mostly because I prefer to eat quinoa over bread.  But if I had to pick a sandwich for my last supper, it would be tuna salad with lettuce, tomato and avocado on whole grain bread.  If there happen to be some grilled onions lying around, I would add those in, too.  But this wouldn’t be just any tuna salad, it would be this one right here, which my kids also love — hooray!

I found the canned tuna of my dreams at Vital Choice — cooked once, BPA-free cans, minimal mercury and absolutely the best tasting tuna ever.   (It’s also one of the most expensive tunas out there.  Drat!)  Tuna is high in Omega-3 fatty acids (very anti-inflammatory and you’re probably not getting enough of them) and high in protein (so important when the kids are at school).  I mix it with some of the expected like a little mayo (I like soy-free Vegenaise), celery, diced shallot (I hate cutting 2 tablespoons of onion and then wrapping the cut onion in the fridge), a little lemon juice to brighten everything up and a touch of Dijon mustard to give it some zing.  But don’t get mad when I tell you I have a random secret ingredient.  My friend Daisy introduced me to Herbamare, an organic herb and salt seasoning, several years ago and my tuna salad peaked.  It just adds the perfect flavor to complement the tuna.  I buy it at Whole Foods, but you can also find it on amazon.com.  Otherwise, just use some sea salt to taste.

You can make your tuna salad the night before to make your morning easier.  Mr. Picky doesn’t like sandwiches (hard to believe, right?), so he takes his tuna in a (BPA-free) container with a spoon.  My teenage girls would please like a breath freshener in their lunch bags on tuna day, and that does NOT mean a sprig of parsley.  Got it.  Look out for more lunch ideas in a future post!

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
My Favorite Tuna Salad
Author: 
Serves: serves about 3
 
Ingredients
  • 1 6-ounce can water-packed tuna, drained
  • ¼ of a lemon
  • 1 stalk celery, diced, about ½ cup
  • 1 small shallot, diced, about 2 Tablespoons
  • 2-3 Tablespoons mayonnaise (I like soy-free Vegenaise) or half Greek yogurt and half mayo
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
  • ⅜ teaspoon Herbamare or sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Right in the can, flake the tuna with a fork over a medium bowl, at the same time allowing the tuna to fall into the bowl. Squeeze the lemon over the tuna.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Taste for seasoning.
Notes
Notes: other additions can include diced apple, diced sweet bell pepper, sliced manzanilla olives (the ones stuffed with pimentos), chopped nuts, chopped water chestnuts, fresh dill

 

Green Goddess Salad

I just spent a lovely four days in Park City, Utah enjoying the clean air and the peace and quiet (outdoors, of course; indoors I have my three kids and two of their friends, so no peace and quiet in the house from noon ’til midnight.)  There are no televisions and I insist that the kids leave the phones in their bedrooms so we can hike and dine without the ping of 6 iPhones.  Heaven.

Of course, with travel comes a deviation from eating the way I like to eat.  I consumed a little too much guacamole and chips a little too late at night, and then someone tried to torture me by buying a container of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.  I had mentioned it was like a more healthful Nutella, not that it was actually healthful.  By the end, I missed my juicer and my garden and all I wanted to eat were salads and vegetables.  In fact, I was craving this Green Goddess Salad while I was on the plane home.

No, I didn’t name this dressing after you.  The original Green Goddess dressing was created at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel in the 1920’s, for the English actor George Arliss.  Arliss was staying at the hotel and dined there every evening before he performed in a play called “The Green Goddess.”  There are so many variations on this dressing, the base of which is usually mayonnaise, sour cream and tarragon — the only herb I don’t like.  Can we still be friends?  So considering I am using none of the above, I don’t know if I can actually call it a Green Goddess dressing.  One day last summer, I tried to clean out some little bits of herbs that were lingering and blended them into my own version of the dressing and we all loved it.  So feel free to adjust the recipe according to whatever herbs you have on hand, even if it’s tarragon.  The kids think it tastes a little like ranch dressing.  So I made more the next day and used it as a dip for raw vegetables.

Green Goddess is a creamy dressing that’s a nice break from traditional vinaigrettes, and one that works well with crisp and sturdy lettuces.  There are dozens of ways to enjoy this salad, even as a main course, since so many things work well with the dressing.  Here I used tomatoes and radishes, which are both perfectly obvious, but you can add hard boiled eggs, shrimp, poached chicken, cucumber, avocado, and/or corn.  One day I took a few beefy tomatoes from the garden, sliced them up and drizzled this over.  Whatever you do, don’t leave out the anchovy paste — it really adds a little salty something and doesn’t taste at all fishy.  Your kids and your picky spouse don’t need to know it’s in there.  In fact, they don’t need to know anything other than you made up your own Ranch dressing.

Green Goddess Salad
Author: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 head romaine lettuce, leave washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
  • Any of the following:
  • Thinly sliced radishes
  • Chopped or sliced cucumber
  • Chopped tomatoes
  • Cubed avocado
  • Raw or cooked corn kernels
  • Quartered hard-boiled eggs
  • Dressing:
  • ½ cup whole plain yogurt (regular or Greek)
  • 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • 3 Tablespoons chopped chives
  • 2 Tablespoons basil leaves
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped dill (if you have it)
  • 1 scallion, chopped
  • 1-2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or two anchovy fillets
  • ½ - ¾ cup unrefined, cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil (depending on how thick or thin you like it)
  • ¾ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Place all dressing ingredients except oil, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. With the motor running, slowly pour in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Toss lettuce in a serving bowl with enough dressing to coat lightly. Either toss remaining salad components separately with dressing or arrange on top of lettuce and drizzle with dressing.
Notes
The original Green Goddess dressing contains lots of tarragon. Feel free to experiment with other different fresh green herbs such as tarragon, cilantro, chervil or mint.

For a dairy-free version, use ½ cup silken tofu in place of the yogurt and increase lemon juice to 3 Tablespoons. I’m sure you could also substitute ½ of ripe avocado, but I haven’t tried that.

Citrus poached wild salmon with cucumber-yogurt sauce

So Miss Vegetarian (aka Daughter #2) has decided that she isn’t as opposed to meat as she once declared.  You might remember back in April that my 12-year-old announced her abstinence from all animal flesh and whole eggs.  She would have been vegan if it weren’t for her love of cheese and ice cream.  I have no problem with vegetarianism since I was one for many years.  You’ve gotta do what’s good for you.  But I had a hunch that my daughter wouldn’t make it to 13 as a vegetarian.  Call it mother’s intuition or maybe just the vivid image I still have of her gnawing on a t-bone until it was dry.

So the recent announcement from Daughter #2 is that she has decided that she is only fish-averse.  Is that the opposite of a pescatarian?  Well, bummer, because that’s the one animal protein I was hoping she would come back to.  I love fish, especially salmon, and I have always been so grateful that my family enjoys it, even Mr. Picky.  Well, except for my husband, who is “allergic” to salmon, but will eat most all other varieties.

One of my favorite ways of preparing salmon is poaching.  My husband likes when I poach fish because he says it doesn’t make the house smell “fishy,” but I like it because it is ridiculously quick and easy and a very healthful way of preserving all the wonderful Omega-3 fats in salmon.  In the summer poaching is a no-brainer because it’s a perfect alternative to grilling, which you are all doing too much of.   You can poach your salmon in the morning and serve it cold for dinner or use the poached fish on top of an entree salad or turn it into salmon salad for a sandwich.  My kids prefer poached salmon slightly warm and they looove this cucumber-yogurt sauce, which is creamy, cool and slightly tangy.  I have also served poached salmon with a salsa of fresh tomatoes, basil and olive oil.

Many of my students have asked me if I continue to eat wild fish after the nuclear event in Japan, and I still do.  My friends at Vital Choice Seafood have addressed the issue to my satisfaction and that’s that.  I am honestly more concerned about consuming farm raised seafood.  I’m sure there are sustainable fish farms out there, but I don’t have time to go look for them.  In the meantime, I am comfortable eating wild salmon once per week and Daughter #2 can just have her cucumber-yogurt sauce with a spoon.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Citrus Poached Wild Salmon with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce
Author: 
Serves: 4-6, depending on how big you cut the salmon
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups dry white wine
  • 3 cups water
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Juice of ½ orange
  • ½ lemon, sliced
  • ½ orange, sliced
  • Few sprigs of parsley
  • Few sprigs of dill
  • 1 24-ounce side of wild salmon, cut into individual portions
  • Sea salt to taste
  • Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce (recipe follows)
Instructions
  1. Place all the ingredients except salmon, salt and sauce in a deep skillet, preferably one with straight sides and a lid. (I used a 10-inch.) Bring to a simmer.
  2. Season salmon with sea salt to taste. Gently transfer the salmon pieces to the pan, skin side down, beginning with the thickest pieces and ending with the thinnest. Cover the skillet and simmer over low heat until the salmon is just cooked through, about 5-6 minutes, longer for thicker fillets. Do not boil.
  3. Transfer the salmon by removing the thinnest piece first and the thickest piece last. Allow to cool slightly and serve immediately with cucumber-yogurt sauce or cover and refrigerate until cold.
Notes
CUCUMBER-YOGURT SAUCE

¾ cup Greek yogurt (I like full fat.)

½ cup grated unpeeled cucumber, such as Persian, Japanese or English

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill or mint

1 small clove garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons drained capers

1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar or white wine vinegar

¾ teaspoon fine grain sea salt

a few grinds of black pepper



Combine all ingredients in a small serving bowl. Cover and chill until cold.