Fusion – Greek Tacos!

This is my first attempt at fusion.  It mostly happened because I felt like I wanted to have tacos with some of the leftover chicken but also wanted a cucumber salad for a side (Ontario has great greenhouse cukes through the winter).  Thus the cucumber became Tzatziki and the black beans became Black Bean Hummus.  The salsa took a few ideas from a Greek salad idea.  All that was needed was a can of [non-local] olives and some feta cheese.  Overall we were happy with the results.  My 3-year-old exclaimed, “This is a good dinner, I like it,” which is a very rare thing for him to say (he later started whimpering when his taco began to fall apart, but that’s another story).

• 1 lb. chicken (your favorite part(s), mine was leftovers from last week’s slow-cooked chicken)

• ½ onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. marjoram
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper (or several pieces of canned pepperoncini)
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 Tb. olive oil
• 1 Tb. lemon juice

In food processor combine all the ingredients.  Scrape down the sides as needed to ensure that all parts are getting puréed.  Add more oil or lemon juice if needed to help form a paste (or “concoction” as I like to call it).  Marinate the chicken with the concoction and allow to sit in the fridge for as long as you have until you’re ready to cook (like the time it takes you to prepare the other parts of the meal).

Fry the chicken to your liking and serve it all up—partay!

Greek Salsa

• 1 c. crushed tomatoes (or use fresh if it’s the right time of year)
• ½ c. diced cucumber (I used ¼ of the cuke that became the tzatziki sauce)
• ½ c. diced onion
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 Tb. wine vinegar
• Salt

Combine ingredients and allow to sit in fridge until dinner.

Black Bean Hummus

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-hummus/ (with added hot peppers; jalapeños or canned pepperoncini)

Tzatziki

• 1 cucumber, sliced lengthwise twice in order to take out the seeds
• 1-2 c. yogurt (Greek yogurt makes for a thicker sauce)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp. mint
• 1 tsp. oregano

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Hopefully you can find a local source of tortillas, but if not you can make your own!  Normally I do make my own but I’ve been slowed down in my cooking efforts by a bad cold.  Now I’m thinking that next time I make tortillas I’ll make a double batch and freeze half for an instance like this one in the future.  Try Kitchen Stewardship’s recipe for 100% Whole Grain Tortillas .