chicken gyro (aka yee-roh.. or gyy-roh)

growing up in las vegas my dad's office was in the part called down town las vegas.. he never ever worked on saturday's that was his day to do his yard work, family stuff, chores around the house, ect.. but on sunday's he always went into the office for a few hours.. i liked to go with him.. his old office was fun.. lot's of places to hide and explore.. back then it was ok to walk around down town and my brother and i would sometimes go the movies at a theater right on fremont street (i remember seeing rocky with my brother..) it became a dirty movie house in the 80's and 90's, lovely.. but the downtown area has, for the past 10 or so years been on a path back to it's glory days and i think now it's a night club or something.. sadly my dad had to move offices sometime in the 70's when the four queens hotel took over the block that his office sat on.. and he moved a little bit away from the actual "down town" part but still pretty close.. on the sunday's i would go to work with my dad we loved to go to a fast food place called "gyro time" (which was right by his new office) i always looked forward to going to work with him if i knew a gyro was in my future.. even sometimes if it was nice out we would walk (which is rare to do in vegas because it gets to be a million degrees outside..ha) the gyro time by my dad's office closed down and as far as i know there is only 1 still in town.. and i haven't had a gyro from a restaurant in years.. but every now and again i get nostalgic and want one..  for that reason i have since learned to make them and we actually like the chicken gyro's the best these days.. the other day i was in a yeee-roh mood.. (and nope they didn't make us call it that when ordering and in fact when they said "hi welcome to gyro time" they actually pronounced it the wrong way too) what do you do when in the mood for a gyro you fire up the grill and make grilled chicken gyros.. i've actually been making them forever but when i saw this recipe here.. i liked the variation.. it was a little different than mine same old same old and i thought i would adapt this new recipe from hers.. and it was sooo good..  and for the record i love love love tzatziki sauce.. (they didn't call it that either you got cucumber dressing).. but weather you call it a yee-roh with tzatziki or gyyy-roh with cucumber dressing makes no matter.. just don't call me late for dinner if your making it!

grilled chicken gyro

prep time: 20 minutes (marinate time: 8 hours)
cooking time: 20 minutes or so
servings: 4-6

ingredients:

4 cloves garlic, minced
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tblsp. olive oil
2 heaping tblsp. of plain non fat greek yogurt
1 tsp. fresh chopped greek oregano (dried regular will do i just happen to have greek oregano in my herb garden)
salt and pepper
2 lbs. chicken (boneless/skinless breasts and thighs)

combine everything above except the chicken.. put the chicken in a zip lock bag and pour mixture over the top.. seal the zip lock and kinda squish everything around make sure it's all coated evenly.. put in a casserole dish (in case your bag decides to leak) and keep refrigerated for 6-8 hours.. then after it's done marinating heat your grill to medium/high heat.. get your grill nice and hot then turn it down to medium low and remoce chicken from the ziplock and put your chicken on the hot grill.. it's going to sizzle and get those nice grill marks..cook on each side for about 7-9 minutes per side.. you want your chicken cooked all the way through no pink inside.. remove from grill.. let sit for about 5-7 minutes then slice up into strips.. serve in naan/pita bread with your favorite toppings and tzatziki sauce..

wrappings/toppings:

fresh soft naan bread/pita bread
tomatoes, seeded and diced
onions, sliced thin
cucumber, sliced thin
radish, sliced thin

tzatziki:

16 oz. plain non fat greek yogurt
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
Juice and zest of a small lemon
drizzle of olive oil
chopped parsley for garnish

mix all of the above except olive oil and parsley.. once combine drizzle with olive oil combine again.. then refrigerate for about an hour before serving so all the flavors can marry.. then sprinkle with parsley right before serving..