A Month-of-Recipes: Mediterranean Medley

It happens to me every February. Here we are at the end of the month, and I have more recipes left than days to share them. To solve that problem, I combined several with a relationship to the Mediterranean. So you get more than one recipe today! Three in fact. More than that if you count in how to use the leftovers.

To get your party started, I included tzatziki, olive spread, and Greek Greek Yogurt Dip for your appetizer pleasure. A suggestion for an appetizer party is to do it thematically. Break out the ouzo and retsina to serve with these three. To complete the theme, add garlic-basil dipping oil, grapes, cheeses, veggies, crackers/bread, and hummus (no, I’m not sharing my recipe today--maybe another time). Now that’s the way to party Mediterranean-style!

Tzatziki (makes a little more than 1 ¼ cup)

½ medium cucumber, shredded

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Drain cucumber shreds and minced garlic, then blot with a paper towel to get rid of excess liquid.

In a small mixing bowl, combine yogurt, cucumber, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Thoroughly blend. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Use leftovers on sandwiches or salads. Mix with hard boiled eggs, shredded cooked chicken, or tuna for salad.

Olive Spread (makes more than one cup)

8 ounces cream cheese (low-fat okay), room temperature

Handful green olives with pimiento

Handful of pitted, medium black olives

In mini-food processor pulse olives to chunky. Add cream cheese and pulse until olives are evenly distributed. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Bring to cool (from cold) before serving with crackers and veggies. Leftovers make a terrific sandwich spread with meat and cheese.

Greek Greek Yogurt Dip (makes one cup)

1 cup Honey Greek Yogurt

2 tablespoons Greek Seasoning (on the spice shelf at your grocer)

Mix Greek seasoning into Greek yogurt and blend thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

This is a good dip for fruit or veggies. Serve leftovers on a chicken or ham sandwich instead of mustard or mayo. Use as a creamy salad dressing.

DH’s Ratings: Tzatziki--3 Tongues Up (not a cucumber fan)--tasted “too green” to him; Olive Spread--4 Tongues Up--he liked it better on a sandwich than as an appetizer; Greek Greek Yogurt--3 Tongues Up--as mentioned  earlier, he’s not generally a fan of sweetish appetizers

A Month-of-Appetizers: Pumpkin Pie Fruit Dip

I write a food column, “The Quick Cook”, for a small town newspaper in Arizona, The Pinewood News. I publish one column a month. I guarantee to make the cooking life easier with my Quick Cook Tips and simple recipes. I will not live long enough to write all the columns I want to do!

In the past two months, I made the case for not buying the very expensive spice blends (which you bought for one specific recipe); rather, likely the person with a decent spice shelf can concoct the combos with existing bottles of spices bought, mostly, for one recipe.

Today’s appetizer makes use of one of the most ubiquitous of those little jars: pumpkin pie spice. For the pumpkin pie fruit dip, you can use the commercial spice blend, but below the recipe, I share my pumpkin pie spice combo to use instead! A two-fer today!

Pumpkin Pie Fruit Dip

1¼ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

8 ounces cream cheese

¼ cup vanilla Greek yogurt (or honey Greek yogurt)

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

Apple and pear slices

Graham crackers

With a mixer on low speed blend the pumpkin puree with the confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add yogurt and pumpkin pie spice. Mix in thoroughly. Pour into the serving dish and refrigerate at least an hour. Serve with fruit and chocolate graham crackers.

Pumpkin Pie Spice  (makes about ½ cup)

2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp ground cloves

Mix thoroughly and store in an airtight container away from light.

DH’s Rating: 3 ½ Tongues Up  DH isn’t a huge pumpkin fan but he does like that this is a relatively healthful dip (if you don’t count the sugar!).