Tuesday, December 27, 2011

8 Layer Mediterranean Dip

You will have to forgive me for the lack of posts. Traveling so close to Christmas and then trying to be ready for the day with all the meals planned, grocery shopping done, presents wrapped, house cleaned (my own and my cleaning jobs), table set, cookies baked, etc.... there is no time left for blogging. I did take pictures however of some of the things I did make so I can now share them with you.

Since I had made such a big meal for Christmas Dinner I planned to make some snack type foods to eat that evening and into the next day so I wouldn't have to cook again. Besides there are too many leftovers! I stumbled across this recipe on the Whole Foods recipe page for this dip and thought it was totally up my alley! So I made it on Saturday evening and we ate it Sunday evening. I thought I would share it today because it would make a great appetizer to try for New Year's Eve if you have something planned.

Miles' exact words when he came up the stairs after having eaten some, "That dip, me likey! You can do that again!" (I know he needs a little help in the grammar department but I will take the compliment.)
I started by spreading a layer of hummus in the bottom of a 9 x 7 inch dish. I used Sabra this time instead of homemade to save a little time. Then I topped that layer with some chopped spinach and then some roasted red pepper.

I know I made each of my layers a little more generous then the recipe called for because I was expecting to really like this and my dish was a different size then what they recommended. You can see the beautiful colorful layers stacking up here!

If you have an angled spatula like this one it works very well to spread things out and to pack the layers down. You should also note that you really need to drain the wet ingredients well so that the dip doesn't get too watery. (red pepper, artichokes, olives)

Next was the artichokes. I should have taken a picture of the can for you. I drained them and roughly chopped them. I should have also patted them with a paper towel just to absorb a little more moisture. Next time!

My favorite......Greek yogurt. I think a thicker brand like Athenos works best for something like this.

Top the yogurt with some roughly chopped Greek olives. I know Greek olives are an acquired taste so if you don't care for them use regular black olives but they do add some great color so don't skip them all together!

I guess I skipped the picture of the green onion. Finish it off with the green onion and a layer of feta cheese. I did refrigerate it overnight but if you give it about an hour it would set up nicely I think.

Doesn't that look delicious????

I served it with two kinds of multi-grain pita chips. I like the Kangaroo brand best not only for their garden herb flavor but also because they do not come all broken up like a lot of pita chips do. They are nice firm squares. Regular pita would have been great to eat with this as well.

We loved this dip so much that we ate it for dinner last night as well and had some more with our lunch today. It is about gone but I am not even the least bit sick of it! I might be making some more for this weekend myself!

You can click here Whole Foods Recipe for the original recipe I found. I didn't change any ingredients but just made bigger portions for each layer. Don't worry. You can't really mess this up!

Stay tuned.........I also made some slightly cleaned up molasses cookies that turned out quite incredible if I do say so myself. They would also be a welcome addition to any New Year's Eve party you might be attending.

Dinner is in the crock pot and Cars 2 is on the agenda for tonight's Christmas Break Movie Marathon! Enjoy your evening!

No comments: