Baked Feta And Greens With Lemony Yogurt Food

PITA AND GREENS BENEDICT WITH FETA CREAM

Steps:

• Combine the feta, yogurt, Aleppo or paprika, a few turns of pepper and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a high-speed blender and blend until very smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (this can be made a day or two in advance).
• Heat the remaining tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the spinach, a few pinches of salt and 2 tablespoons water and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and wilted, about 4 minutes. (You may need to add the spinach in batches if it's too much to fit in all at once.) Season with pepper and squeeze in the lemon juice. Turn the heat down to low just to keep this warm while you poach the eggs.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Crack the eggs one at a time into a small bowl, then carefully lower the eggs into the boiling water. Cook until the whites are firm but the yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove to a paper towel or clean kitchen towel to dry off any excess moisture.
• Toast or grill the pitas. Drizzle with a little olive oil and top with the spinach and eggs. Spoon on the feta cream and sprinkle with fresh black pepper and a pinch of Aleppo or paprika. Enjoy!
• Mix together the warm water, yeast and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer running on low speed, add the salt and oil, then gradually add the flour. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix, adding just enough additional flour so that the dough no longer sticks to the bowl, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky, 7 to 10 minutes. (Do not add too much flour.) Lightly coat a clean large bowl with oil or cooking spray, then place the dough in the bowl and turn it once or twice to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Turn the dough onto a clean work surface and divide it into 24 equal pieces. Mold each piece into a ball by stretching the top and tucking the edges under. Place the balls 1 inch apart on a piece of parchment paper, then cover them with plastic wrap and let them rise for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• With a rolling pin, roll out the balls of dough into 3-inch circles, dusting with flour as needed. Place them on the lined baking sheets and bake until they're puffy and just starting to brown, about 5 minutes.

BAKED FETA AND GREENS WITH LEMONY YOGURT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large heatproof skillet over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6-8 minutes. Add greens in handfuls, letting wilt before adding another handful, and cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp. curry powder; season with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Stir to combine, then add 1 cup water. Lay feta over greens and transfer skillet to oven. Bake until feta is soft, 10-12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 4 Tbsp. oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant and just beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 2 minutes. Add chickpeas, season with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper, and continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until browned and crisp around the edges, 8-10 minutes. Add remaining 1 tsp. curry powder and toss to combine.
• Stir yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl; season with a pinch of salt.
• Scatter chickpeas and toasted garlic over greens and feta. Dollop with seasoned yogurt. Serve with toast alongside.

FETA CHEESE AND GREEN ONION DIP WITH OLIVE OIL AND LEMON WITH GRILLED PITA

Steps:

• Place grilled green onions, oil, lemon juice, and zest in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the feta and garlic and process until combined and smooth. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and garnish with the additional sliced green onions.
• Heat grill to high. Brush the pitas with the remaining oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Grill for 1 minute per side or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the grill and cut each pita into eighths. Serve with the feta dip.

GREEK MEATBALLS, FETA YOGURT SAUCE AND LEMON COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Sauce -- Mix the feta, yogurt, half and half, salt and pepper and lemon juice. Set to the side in a small bowl and refrigerate. Done!
• Couscous -- As I said takes literally 5 minutes to boil, stir in couscous and it's done. Don't worry about that until the dinner is done. Although you can put a pot on the stove with the broth, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and put the couscous in a measuring cup on the side, just so it is all ready.
• Cucumber and Lemon -- Now I use a English (or seedless cucumber and just dice it up and set to the side (it's done). Same with slicing the lemon. One less thing to do at the end of the meal.
• Meatballs -- Simply in a large bowl, add the feta, milk, parsley, scallions, egg, oregano, salt and pepper. I mix everything well and then add the meat last. You don't want to over mix the meat as it can make it tough. Just mix enough to be combined. Roll into golf ball size meatballs.
• Saute -- Just heat up the olive oil in a large saute pan on medium high and cook them until golden brown. Remove to a plate while you make the sauce.
• Sauce -- In the same pan with the drippings from the meatballs, add the olives, garlic and red pepper and cook just a minute. then stir in the tomatoes, oregano and parsley and cook just another minute to heat up. Add the meatballs back in to finish cooking. They will take approximately 5-10 minutes depending on the size. Just keep them on a low simmer.
• Couscous -- As the meatballs finish, cook the couscous. Just bring the broth, lemon, olive oil and seasoning up to a boil. Add the couscous, stir and remove from the heat and cover. Use foil, a lid, saran wrap, a plate, or anything you have will work just fine. Just let it set for 5 minutes and it is done.
• Serve -- Use a fork to fluff the couscous and then just spoon some on your plate. Top with 2-3 of the meatballs and some of the tomato and olive sauce, and now the good part. Finish with a spoon of the yogurt sauce over the meatballs and some diced cucumber and then squeeze the lemon.
• And trust me -- now you have a totally amazing dish.