Recipe Week: Greek Yogurt Chocolate Truffles

Last week we gave you some great info on Greek yogurt. How about trying your hand at a treat made with that nutritious and delicious staple?

This truffle recipe gets rave reviews by everyone who tries it. They simply melt in your mouth. These are quite rich. Just one is sure to cure that chocolate craving.

Ingredients:
- 4 teaspoons of fat-reduced cocoa powder + some extra cocoa to roll the truffles
- 1 tablespoon of fat free Greek yogurt
- 5 tablespoons of powdered skim milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 5 drops of butter flavoring
- 3 teaspoons of artificial sweetener

Directions:
Mix everything together. Add extra powdered skim milk if necessary until the paste reaches a firm consistency. Put aside in the fridge for a few hours. Before serving them, roll the balls in cocoa powder.

If you try this recipe, be sure to tell us about it in the comments. 

Greek Yogurt: Better than Regular Yogurt?

Move over, regular yogurt. Going Greek is in! This exotic option has elbowed its way onto refrigerator shelves everywhere. Most give a big thumbs up to its taste—tangier and less sweet, as well as creamier—but is it healthier than its conventional counterpart?

Both Greek and regular yogurt, in their plain, nonfat or low-fat forms, can be part of a healthful diet. They're low in calories and packed with calcium and live bacterial cultures. But our Mediterranean friend—which is strained extensively to remove much of the liquid whey, lactose, and sugar, giving it its thick consistency—does have an undeniable edge. In roughly the same amount of calories, it can pack up to double the protein, while cutting sugar content by half. 

For someone who wants the creamier texture, a little bit of a protein edge, and a sugar decrease, going Greek is definitely not all hype. And it's really got a following: In the past five years, Greek yogurt sales nationwide have skyrocketed.

Here's a closer look at how the two stack up nutrition-wise.

Protein. Greek yogurt is high in protein, which helps promote fullness. A typical 6-ounce serving contains 15 to 20 grams, the amount in 2 to 3 ounces of lean meat. That makes it particularly appealing to vegetarians, who sometimes struggle to get enough of the nutrient. An identical serving of regular yogurt, on the other hand, provides just 9 grams.

Carbohydrates. Going Greek is a smart choice for low-carb dieters. It contains roughly half the carbs as the regular kind—5 to 8 grams per serving compared with 13 to 17. Plus, the straining process removes some of the milk sugar, and lactose. 

Fat. Be wary of Greek yogurt's fat content. In just 7 ounces, Fage's full-fat Greek yogurt packs 16 grams of saturated fat—or 80 percent of your total daily allowance if you're on a 2,000-calorie diet. Dannon's regular full-fat yogurt has 5 grams of saturated fat in an 8-ounce serving. If you're going Greek, stick to low-fat and fat-free versions.

Sodium. A serving of Greek yogurt averages 50 milligrams of sodium—about half the amount in most brands of the regular kind. 

Calcium. Regular yogurt provides 30 percent of the federal government's recommended daily amount. Greek yogurt loses some of its calcium through the straining process, but still packs a wallop. A 6-ounce cup typically supplies about 20 percent of the daily recommendation. 

Most experts agree that Greek yogurt has a nutritional edge. The key is sticking to plain, nonfat, or low-fat varieties.

When you do opt for Greek yogurt, take advantage of its versatility. Mix it with seasonings like garlic, dill, and parsley to create a unique dip for carrots, celery sticks, or cucumber slices. Toss in some berries or high-fiber granola. You can also substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream on tacos, for example, or for the eggs and oil in baked goods. It's an acceptable replacement for fatty ingredients like cream cheese, mayonnaise, and butter.

Thanks to Dallas News's Eats Blog!

If you keep up with the Eats Blog over at Dallas News, you probably know a little inside information about a little something we're working on here at Zizikis.

Wait, you haven't heard of Eats Blog? This is where the Dallas Morning News Restaurant Critic Leslie Brenner, Morning News Taste writers and arts staffers share news, updates and reviews from the Dallas dining scene. If you're a foodie living in DFW, you'll want to make their blog one of your frequent stops on the web.

Last month, Leslie wrote about The Commissary closing it's doors. In the same post she writes 'Costa and Mary Arabatzis, owners of Ziziki’s Restaurants, plan to open a Greek place, Meze, in the space in September.'

So there you have it...our surprise is out! We hope you're as excited as we are!

Ziziki's Taverna Wins Best Mediterranean - Addison Magazine

Ziziki's Taverna has once again won Favorite Mediterranean restaurant in the 2012 Readers' Choice Awards! A special thank you goes out to our Addison patrons, who have nominated and voted for us - to victory - TWO YEARS in a row for this great honor!

We've once again won Favorite Mediterranean restaurant with Addison Magazine Reader's Choice Awards! Thank you for making Ziziki's Taverna - Addison's Best Mediterranean Restaurant! OPA!

Pictured: Joni Linton, Ziziki's Taverna manager, Lulian Hankollari, Ziziki's Taverna bartender/server and Neel Gibbons, Ziziki's Restaurant manager

A Little Greek Culture: The Cretan Wine Festival is No More

For years, the Touring Club of Rethymnon, in collaboration with the Municipality of Rethymnon, organized the Rethymnon Wine Festival – a 2-week celebration of Cretan wine, music and dance. You bought a carafe and some glasses, and you could drink as much wine as you wanted, whilst listening to some very good Cretan music and watching some fantastic dancing. Sounds like heaven (or maybe Mt. Olympus), yes?

In 2008 the municipality of Rethymnon made the decision to stop organizing the Wine Festival, at least in the same format.

In 2009 the Wine Festival was re-introduced, but with a completely new identity and format. Then again, in 2012 the identity of the festival was changed-the 1st Cretan Diet Festival was born. 

Now, don’t let the word diet scare you off. This isn’t a festival that centers around diet food. Rather it’s a cultural experience that goes beyond wine and music to include food, crafts and other traditional Greek food products. 

Thinking it’s time to hunt up those tickets to Greece you purchased a while back? Oh. No tickets to Greece? Well, that’s alright. We can give you a taste of Greece here at Ziziki's…bring your appetite!

Make Your Own Greek Salad Dressing

Run to your fridge and grab a bottle of salad dressing. No, really. Go.
What are the ingredients? The best things in life really are the most simple things. 


So, what’s a salad lover to do? Easy! Just make your own dressing! It takes minutes to do, you probably have the ingredients, and you can reuse one of your old glass salad dressing bottles for storage.

Everyone loves a Greek Vinaigrette. It makes even a simple plate of spinach something special to enjoy.  We can share some recipes with you, without giving away our famous, traditional, ancient Greek cuisine secrets. OPA!

Basic Greek Vinaigrette

• 1/2 c. red wine vinegar
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 3/4 tsp. pepper
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. onion powder
• 3/4 tsp. Dijon mustard

Add all ingredients to a jar or container with a tight fitting lid.  Shake well to combine. Refrigerate after use. Makes 1 cup (8 oz).

Interesting Facts About Greek Desserts

What makes YaYa's desserts so scrumptious?  It's years of experience and family tradition - coupled with some little-known trivia.

1. Ancient Greeks used Honey instead of sugar because sugar as we know it did not exist in Greece.

2. What sets Greek desserts apart is their eastern influence. Whereas western desserts are more sponge and cream based, the Greek sweets are sugar based. Many include fillo pastry, which is paper thin sheets of pastry, layered upon each other to create a multi-layered effect, as in baklava. With many nuts - such as walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and almonds being in abundance in Greece, it is no surprise to see these nuts used widely in their desserts. Once the dessert is baked, it is drenched in a sweet aromatic honey syrup, as in walnut cake - Karythopita. Apart from the beautiful flavors it infuses, the syrup helps to preserve the dessert.

3. Although Americans call these 'desserts' - Greeks refer to them as sweets - they are generally not eaten after a meal as we would in other western countries. In Greece dessert is rarely eaten after a meal and if so it is most likely to be whichever fruit is in season. Rather, desserts are kept and brought out during the day, along with a Greek coffee and a glass of iced water, especially when there is a visitor. In this way the sweets can be savored and enjoyed completely on their own, away from the fullness of a meal, which is fitting since they are in themselves very filling and a truly sensational taste.

The next time you’re looking to share a coffee and a sweet with a friend, skip the standard drive through your friend to Ziziki’s.