Feta-Walnut Dip

Feta-Walnut Dip isn't exactly a Saturday morning food ... but I went ahead and made it as I sipped on some green juice.

I started by toasting walnuts.

The walnuts went into the food processor with feta cheese.

Along with a clove of garlic, paprika, a little milk, and cayenne. I pulsed until everything was smooth.

You can almost see my jammy pant leg in that photo. Awesome!

I sprinkled some dried oregano on top and chilled the dip in the refrigerator for a bit. Then  I served the dip for lunch on a crispy baguette with bell pepper slivers. YUM! It's salty from the cheese and nutty from the walnuts. A delicious dip!

Spanakopita

Spankakopita involves three really lovely ingredients: spinach, feta cheese, and phyllo pastry. Each one shares the spotlight splendidly in this crispy green entree.

I started by defrosting my phyllo pastry. I don't recommended unrolling before it has fully defrosted it like I did. It'll crumple and make you grumpy for at least a half an hour.

Here's my attempt at a Pioneer Woman style photo of the onions, basil and oregano, which turned out blurry and terrible:

There was a lot of spinach to chop:

And add to the pan:

Next, assembling the spanakopita! Sheets of phyllo, a little dish of oil, the spinach and feta cheese filling, and a nice pan:

I cut the spanakopita into squares (err ... rectangles) before baking it.

The result was a delicious dinner! Next time I will use a little less feta, as I think it was overpowering. I might use more spinach too, because spinach is just so gosh darned good!

I'd been saving this recipe for a special dinner with friends ... but wouldn't you know it, those plans fell through. Life seems to be throwing some serious curve balls lately in the form of school stress, car troubles, and another cycle of nomadic living. It sure is comforting to know that I can rely on cooking as a consistent partner and source of joy and satisfaction.

Caramelized Onion Sauce

Caramelized Onion Sauce was worth the wait. I had never made caramelized onions before, but thanks to a kitchen timer and an excellent episode of The Wire, I kept myself occupied for the hour it took them to cook down.

Six cups seems like a lot of onions at first! But they cooked down to nearly nothing; about a cup or so. After the onions cooked, I added white wine to the pan.  While penne pasta cooked, I added spinach, arugula, and crumbled feta cheese to the onions. The feta melted and the pasta was added into the sauce right after being drained.

The dish was filling but didn't make me feel yucky afterward. The feta had just the right amount of biting flavor and the arugula and spinach made this an extra healthy dish!

Zucchini-Feta Pancakes

As an accompaniment to the soup tonight, I made Zucchini-Feta Pancakes. I was introduced to zucchini fritters by a fellow vegetarian girlfriend in high school, and ever since then, I've been hooked. Unfortunately the ones we ate as teenagers weren't very healthy; the batter had many eggs in it and they were fried in a half an inch of oil. The worst part was that we dipped them in ranch dressing... not exactly healthy! This Moosewood recipes was much lighter.

Zucchini was grated in the food processor, which is always a quick and gratifying process. Egg yolks, green onion, flour and feta were added. Sometimes feta smells like vomit to me. I love the way it calms down once it's been warmed up. So much tastier! For those of you that can handle it raw in Greek salads, I commend your bravery! But I digress... I folded whipped egg whites into the batter for a light and fluffy green speckled concoction. Then to the stove!

I am happy to report that these pancakes were fried in a simple drizzle of oil. I kept them warm in the oven and ate them with just a skosh of salt and sour cream.

Arabian Squash Casserole

I amended Arabian Squash Casserole in its assembly. Instead of mixing the roasted butternut squash, onion and bell pepper saute, and feta-yogurt delight, I layered them in the pan. I was pleased with how it turn out. The topping looks a little like popcorn! I love the way the cheese and yogurt browned. The bell peppers and cayenne made this dinner a little bit spicy.

Lentil-Bulgur Salad

Events leading up to the creation of Lentil-Bulgur Salad were not awesome... I dropped a big, expensive bottle of California olive oil, sending the shattered bits of glass all over the kitchen. I couldn't locate the salt and pepper shakers for the life of me. Oregano could not be found. It seems that this salad just wasn't gonna come together quite as expected, but somehow I pulled it off.

I used bright orange lentils for this salad. The color makes them look a little like cheddar cheese bits in the mix. Other chopped and minced ingredients included: garlic, fresh mint leaves, dill, Italian flat leaf parsley, red onion, red bell pepper, celery, feta, olives, and tomatoes.

The salad is an intense mix of flavors. The feta and olives remind me of pizza or the filling in a veggie gyro. It's a super yummy salad from the little bites I've tried. I plan to serve it for lunch tomorrow with some toasted whole wheat pita bread, per Mollie's suggestion. :)