Gyro Salad with Tzatziki Dressing

Spring is fully here. Milwaukee in April is the city's apology for February — warm sun, blooming trees, the lakefront coming alive with runners and dog walkers and people who have been hibernating since November. The Jeep's top is off. The windows are open. The apartment smells like fresh air instead of steam and soup. Everything is waking up, including my anxiety about the wedding, which hibernated through the winter and is now very much awake.

Megan is unfazed. This is her superpower — calm in the face of logistics that would make an air traffic controller weep. She manages the vendors, the timeline, the families, and a classroom of fourth graders simultaneously, and she does it while looking like she's not trying. She is trying. She just makes it look easy. I asked her if she was nervous. She said, "About what?" I said, "The wedding." She said, "I'm not marrying the wedding. I'm marrying you. The wedding is just a party."

She's right. The wedding is just a party. A very large, very Polish, very Irish party with five hundred dozen pierogi and sixty bottles of craft beer and 180 people in a basilica. But still — just a party.

Easter with both families. I made the zurek, the pierogi, the golabki. The table at Tom and Linda's is practiced at holding all of us now — the Kowalskis on one side, the O'Briens on the other, Megan and I in the middle, bridge between two nations. Tom said grace in Polish. Patrick said "Amen" with the confidence of a man who has adopted Polish prayers without understanding a single word. Interfaith cooperation at its finest.

Made a spring lamb roast for Easter dinner — leg of lamb rubbed with garlic, rosemary, and olive oil, roasted until the outside is crispy and the inside is pink. Not Polish. Easter lamb is more of an Irish-Italian tradition. But in this family, all traditions merge. The lamb was good. The pierogi were better. Some things don't change.

The leg of lamb was a hit — crispy outside, pink inside, exactly what Easter deserved — but after a holiday table that also held zurek, golabki, and what felt like a metric ton of pierogi, I started thinking about what a lighter version of that same lamb flavor might look like. This Gyro Salad with Tzatziki Dressing scratches that same itch: seasoned lamb, fresh vegetables, and that cool garlicky yogurt dressing that cuts right through the richness. It’s the Easter lamb tradition, just with a little more spring in its step.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the gyro lamb:
1 lb ground lamb
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
For the tzatziki dressing:
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 English cucumber, grated and squeezed dry
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil
For the salad:
5 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 English cucumber, diced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup kalamata olives, halved
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 whole wheat pita rounds, warmed and cut into wedges (optional)

Instructions

Make the tzatziki dressing. In a medium bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, dill, salt, and olive oil. Stir well until fully combined. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Season the lamb. In a large bowl, combine the ground lamb with garlic, oregano, cumin, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix gently with your hands until the spices are evenly distributed. Do not overwork the meat.
Cook the lamb. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the seasoned lamb and cook, breaking it into crumbles, for 10—12 minutes until browned and cooked through. Drain any excess fat and set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
Build the salad base. Divide the chopped romaine evenly among four bowls or plates. Top each with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, and crumbled feta.
Assemble and serve. Spoon the warm gyro lamb over each salad. Drizzle generously with tzatziki dressing. Serve immediately with warm pita wedges on the side if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Gyro Salad with Tzatziki Dressing — When Easter Lamb Finds a New Tradition