Hi!
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! We were celebrating all weekend because my brother turned 30 on Sunday! And apparently birthday’s aren’t just one day they are a week long event..;)
Let’s say come Monday I was prettttty tired.
I made Jeffrey’s request for a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.
I used a recipe titled “Everyone’s Favorite Celebration Cake” out of Alison Roman’s Dining In cookbook. Honestly, you should own this cookbook just for this recipe. This cake was INSANE!! Solid C+ for my cake decorating skills, but the execution, flavor, texture.. omg you guys..I think this was seriously the best cake I’ve ever made
And I may or may not of shared a slice the next day as a “brunch dessert”…
We did quite the spread for obviously a small amount of people, but sometimes you just gotta pretend like you’re hosting a large party and make an insanely large cheeseboard that practically went untouched hah
If you live in Massachusetts and have not gotten cheese from Wasik’s Cheese Shop, you are seriously missing out. Their mexican cheese dip was my meal/snack of choice for the first 2 weeks of quarantine #eatyourfeelings. I’m pretty sure they ship anywhere in the US as well 🙂
Along with burgers, sausages, potato salad, fruit salad, baked beans, and the best caramelized onion dip, I made my second favorite dip recipe of all time, my Mediterranean Layer Dip!
I have made a version of this dip no less than 10 times for different occasions/gatherings.
It starts with a layer of hummus. I happened to have homemade hummus on hand but I frequently just use the store bought stuff for this recipe
Then the STAR of the show, the whipped feta, which is the exact recipe as my charred scallion whipped feta minus the scallions. You could certainly have the charred scallion whipped feta as the second layer but to be honest, I was lazy and left them out.
I’m not sure what exactly it is about whipped feta, but people go crazy over it. It’s tangy, slightly sweet, savory, and incredibly addicting.
Now comes the fun part, the toppings! Which are mainly vegetables making this dip feel fresh and healthy. You can really top the feta with whatever you like. Some options..
cucumbers, scallions, tomatoes, chives, olives, sun dried tomatoes, pimento peppers, raw bell pepper, roasted peppers, capers, chopped fresh dill, parsley, chives, artichoke hearts, etc
This dip is best served with crunchy veggies like peppers, carrots, celery, as well as some homemade or store bought pita chips. This dip is seriously a meal in and of itself. Just pair it with some pitas and grilled chicken and boom, dinner!
Mediterranean Layer Dip
Serves about 6
Ingredients:
- 16oz plain hummus (homemade or store bought)
- 8oz block of cream cheese, room temperature
- 8 oz block of feta
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and pepper
- Topping ideas (you need about 1.5 cups total)
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Olives
- Scallions
- Chives
- Dill
- Parsley
- Capers
- Artichoke hearts
- Another drizzle of olive oil
- For serving: Pita Chips, Crudite Veggies, etc
Instructions:
- In a food processor, add the cream cheese, feta, honey, olive oil, lemon juice, a generous pinch of black pepper, and a small pinch of salt. Blend until smooth.
- In a shallow bowl/dish about 8 by 8 inches, layer the hummus in an even layer on the bottom.
- Add the whipped feta on top and spread it out in an even layer.
- Add whatever desired toppings (you want all the toppings to be cut into small even pieces, with the exception of the fresh herbs that can be lightly chopped as a garnish, about 1.5 cups worth of toppings is plenty) and serve with pita chips and crudite vegetables.
This dip has definitely helped earn me my title of the “dip queen.” I’m not sure when it all started but for all of my friends gatherings in the past and parties of my own, I always was the one to make the dip. Dip’s really do bring people together 🙂 I hope you try this recipe/method out. Feel free to get creative with the toppings!
xx Chelcie
