One of the curses of living in the boonies is the lack of great ethnic food and grocery stores. ALAS! So, I have lots of great recipes for Thai, Mexican, Irish, Indian, Chinese, Scottish, Italian, and even an Indian Chai Tea Latte that we make every day (no lie). And, we drive to the nearest big town once a month or so, to stock up at said grocery stores. But I've also learned to make do - no true gyros or sushi at home like at our favorite restaurants, but plenty of flavor.

I was inspired by a recipe on pinterest (as I always am - follow me here) for a gyros...meatloaf! My cooking spidey senses kicked in. I adapted the recipe to include fresh ingredients to our taste.

Greek Gyros Meatloaf Recipe

Ingredients

2 # ground meat (beef, lamb, chicken, or turkey)
2 big handfuls spinach, steamed, water squeezed out, chopped
1 head of garlic, divided
1 medium onion, minced
1 c cracker crumbs, dried bread crumbs, or oatmeal
2 eggs
1 T dried oregano
1-2 T Greek seasoning (we use Penzey's)
1/4 t nutmeg
pinch salt

Tzatziki Sauce (directions below)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

Mince garlic, put 1/4 in a small bowl for the tsatziki sauce. Place the rest of the garlic in a large bowl.

Add in the rest of the ingredients, mix until combined, do not overmix.

Place in a loaf pan and bake for an hour, until the inner temperature of the meatloaf is 160-170 (your choice - 160 is medium, 170 is well done).

Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

Slice and serve with tzatziki sauce (and feta, if so desired. We were out. Heading to the City next week!).

For sides, we love oven-baked smashed potatoes and a large Greek salad.

Tzatziki Sauce Recipe

Combine in a bowl:
1/4 head of garlic, finely minced
1 t lemon juice
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
2 c yogurt (use Greek yogurt if you like this sauce thick, otherwise regular yogurt is fine)

Stir up when you make your meatloaf and refrigerate until needed. This will give the flavors time to meld.

Enjoy!