This one is exactly what it says – quick. You don’t even need food processor, I never use it to make it, especially because I love the uneven texture. Mine is almost never completely smooth. Thanks to olive oil and youghurt it is is perfectly creamy, and it is entirely up to your personal preference.
One thing you most definitely want though is the freshest possible vegetables for your crudités for dipping. Your veg needs to have some crunch, don’t use anything tired.
Here are some examples of lovely veg, some of it came straight from our veg patch. I especially love the prolonged shaped ones, as they are much easier to handle.
Slice them thinly, like the radish rounds of French breakfast radishes for smaller bites, or in thicker sticks like the baby cucumbers above. Cut spring onions half- way alongside to create spears that can be used to spoon more dip if you like. Or, leave some of your veg whole – mangetout pea pods – they really need nothing else but rinsing in water, perhaps cutting off drier ends.
Tomatoes may be tricky – naturally, you either want them sliced in halves, or as a suggestion, they are fantastic with this dip as a side dish, when you rather spoon your dip onto the plate than dip the veg piece into.
To make the quick feta dip you need:
- 200 g feta cheese block (some groceries sell it as “Greek style salad cheese”)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or 3 tbs cooking olive oil if you find the extra virgin one too strong, as my children do
- 200 – 250 ml Greek style youghurt
- 1 handful fresh mint leaves (a small 30 g shop bought packet is plenty), finely chopped
Crumble feta cheese into larger bowl. Using fork, press against it to crumble it even further into smaller bits until it almost resembles bread crumbs.
Add 2/3 olive oil, pouring it in smaller amounts, and work in with the fork. Spoon in the youghurt, one table spoon at a time, and mix in a similar way as whisking eggs or whipping cream.
Add fresh chopped mint leaves, reserving few to decorate later on.
Using spatula, transfer the dip mixture into the serving dish. Dress it with the rest of the oil and mint leaves that you left aside.
You can alternate the dressing, all these suggestions are equally delicious, depending on your mood:
- rose harissa paste to spoil yourself, its heat works a treat against this rich, velvety dip
- sun – dried tomato paste for the indulgent ones, its tanginess perfectly complements this creamy cool cheese
- sprinkle paprika, either smoked or sweet one, I’d only suggest not to use fresh mint in this case
cottage in the weald 