7(ish?)-Layer Greek Dip

Hubba hubba. This is scrumptious. Why didn't I think of this myself? It's a riff on the more traditional 7-layer Mexican dip. I think I like this one better. (Heresy, I know.)

Ingredients:

8 oz. block cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese

1 tsp. dried dill weed

2 tsp. lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 1/2 c. (12 oz.) hummus (can be store purchased or homemade)

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

3 med. tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 c. chopped kalamata olives

1/3 c. chopped green onions (about 3 full green onion stalks)

1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese

1/8–1/4 c. chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

Directions:

With an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese, dill weed, lemon juice, and garlic. Spread this layer in the bottom of a pie dish or a half-sheet pan. Spread the hummus layer next. In order, layer on the cucumber, tomatoes, kalamata olives, green onions, feta, and parsley. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours. Serve with pita chips, pita bread, or even tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Carmelized Onion Dip

This is the ultimate dip for ruffley chips for a summer barbecue OR for when you get laid off and want to loaf around in your sweats all day and watch the Food Network. The genius of this dip is that it tastes vaguely reminiscent of the onion dip of your youth, but classed up a notch or two with the addition of caramelized onions and yogurt. Yogurt is necessary for your digestive system, so basically when you eat this dip you're practically doing your body a favor.

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large yellow onions (they look like a lot now, but they'll shrink like a frightened turtle)
• 3/4 C sour cream
• 3/4 C plain or Greek yogurt
• 2 TBS dehydrated onion flakes (to taste)
  
• 1/2 tsp salt

Finely chop onions. Saute onions in the olive oil along with a pinch of salt on medium heat. Stir occasionally, cooking until the onions are deeply golden, brown, and caramelized - roughly 25 -30 minutes. Let cool.

In the meantime, stir together the sour cream, yogurt, onion powder, and salt. The important thing is to add whatever onion powder you are using to taste. Add a bit at a time until it tastes really good. Set aside until the caramelized onions have cooled to room temperature. Stir in 2/3 of the caramelized onions, scoop into a serving bowl, and top with the remaining onions. I think this dip is best at room temperature.

Makes about 2 cups.

From 101 cookbooks.

Lemon Greek Potatoes

A friend who worked in a Greek restaurant made these for me and I was addicted. I rudely ate out of the serving dish and dabbed my potato in the lovely lemon sauce at the bottom. Mmmmm... Anyway, she searched forever to find the closest recipe to the potatoes that they made at the restaurant, and she found this one:

Ingredients
• 3 lbs waxy potatoes (I prefer to leave the skins on)
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 C chicken stock

Shortcut directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Cut potatoes into chunks.

2. Toss the cut potatoes in olive oil and place in a glass baking dish and microwave for 10-15 minutes while your oven is heating until your potatoes are starting to get tender.

3. Combine the rest of the sauce ingredients and pour on potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes until potatoes begin to brown and get a little crispy and the sauce at the bottom is thickened from the starch.

Long directions:
1. Cut potatoes into chunks and combine all ingredients to marinate for 2 hours.

2. Bake potatoes and sauce in glass baking dish at 400 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.


Whether you marinate them or not, these potatoes have quite a punch.