Summer Veggie Gyro, Sliced Tomatoes + Tzatziki

Line a baking sheet with parchment or a non-stick silicone mat.

Mince the garlic cloves as finely as you can. A great trick is to mince for a bit, then when you have pretty small pieces, use the side of your knife to scrape the pieces across the cutting board, smashing them up into a paste. Scrape it back into a little pile and repeat the motion with the side of your knife. You could use a microplane to grate it or a garlic press.

Set out a medium bowl and a slightly smaller one. Place ⅔ of the minced garlic in the medium bowl and the other 1/3 in the smaller bowl. To the medium bowl, add, 1 Tablespoon dried oregano, 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar, and most of the chopped parsley (set aside a few Tablespoons for a final fresh garnish). Add 1 teaspoon of salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Then add 2 Tablespoons of yogurt to the medium bowl and whisk to combine the ingredients.

Scrape the remainder of the yogurt into the smaller bowl containing just a little minced garlic. If your yogurt container is larger than 6 ounces (some are closer to 7 or 8), just scrape it all in, the exact proportions of yogurt in this sauce won’t matter much and it’s less likely go to waste as a delicious sauce! Set aside.

Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise, then again so you have 4 long pieces. Cut each in half or 3rds so you have “sticks” of zucchini. Slice the bell pepper into 1” wide strips. Add these to the yogurt mixture in the medium bowl. Turn to coat. This can be cooked right away or let it marinate for up to 2 days.

Lay the strips on the prepared baking sheet. Place in the top of the oven, near the flame, and broil for about 8 total minutes, stopping to turn and check at least once or twice to check that it’s evenly charred and tender.

*Of course, if you have a BBQ grill easily accessible, take it outside and grill the veggies! It’s likely easier to keep the pieces bigger for the grill and slice them into smaller strips afterwards.

While the veggies are cooking, cut cucumber in half. Use the large holes of a box grater to grate half of the cucumber directly into the yogurt in the smaller bowl. Small dice the other half and set aside.

Into the bowl with the yogurt, whisk the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, and remaining olive oil - about 2 Tablespoons - until its combined. Set tzatziki sauce aside.

Slice the tomatoes into thin wedges. Optional - sprinkle with salt.
Slice olives in half - optional, they’re fine whole and you save a step.
Scoop out pepperoncini peppers.

Heat the pita in the oven for about 1-2 minutes, it can be on still or turn it off and use the residual heat. Flip and adjust the pieces as needed so they’re evenly warm and soft. You don’t want to walk away and forget them, no crispiness needed.

Lay each pita down and spoon a line of sauce. Top with roasted zucchini and peppers. Garnish with diced cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, pepperoncini, and maybe more sauce. Fold the edges in, tighter on the bottom than the top to get that classic gyro shape. Or just fold the sides in evenly for a more uniform shape. Serve as is or wrap the bottoms with parchment or foil to hold it together! (Foil is the easiest - lay the pita on the foil before assembling and you can use it to fold in the side and hold everything in place.)