7 Layer Greek Dip

Seven Layer Greek Dip

I invited a friend over one night last week for wine and dinner not realizing that I did not have any wine or food to make. I quickly thought on the spot of what to make.. I was really craving Greek food but wasn't sure of one thing I wanted. I thought of all the Greek food I like and decided to throw it all together and serve with some yummy warm pita bread. I actually didn't even realize it was a "7 layer dip" until my husband asked me what I called this and we started counting the layers. I definitely will be making this again! I usually make my own hummus but, since I was in a time crunch I used store-bought. I served this and some sausage, cheese, and tortilla wraps. 

 

 Now for the recipe:

 

 

Layers:

1.    Hummus (either homemade or store bought)

2.    Cilantro Walnut Pesto (recipe below)

3.    Cucumbers – sliced ¼ inch thin and then into 6ths

4.    Kalamata olives – sliced

5.    Roasted tomatoes (Drizzle grape tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in oven at 225 degrees for an hour and 15 minutes)

6.    Toasted Pine nuts (toast in saucepan on stove on low heat, stir every two minutes, should only take about 5 minutes to toast)

7.    Crumbled Reduced Fat Feta Cheese

Cilantro Walnut Pesto:

-       2 garlic cloves

-       4 tablespoons lemon juice

-       1/3 cup walnuts

-       1 bunch cilantro – coarse stems removed

-       1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

-       Salt and pepper to taste

Place the walnuts and garlic in food processor. Process until smooth.  Add lemon juice. Add cilantro ½ cup at a time. While the cilantro is processing, add in the oil and season with salt and pepper. Make sure to pulse the mixture until smooth.

Layer all the ingredients on a large platter starting with #1 and ending with #7.

Serve with warm pita bread.

 

Spaghetti with Homemade Marinara Sauce

Simple Spaghetti with Homemade Sauce

 

Ingredients for sauce:
1 can tomato sauce

¾ can water

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove – minced

¼ white onion – minced

4 carrots – chopped small

1 teaspoon rosemary – chopped

½ teaspoon basil – chopped

¼ teaspoon thyme – chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil 

 

Directions for Sauce:

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and onion. Sauté for 30 seconds. Add the carrot and continue to sauté. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Stir every few minutes. Remove the bay leaf before serving. 

Ingredients for meat:

½ lb. lean ground beef or turkey

1 garlic clove- minced

¼ onion – chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions for meat:

In a skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté for a minute. Add the meat and cook for about 6-8 minutes (or until cooked through).

Simple Spaghetti with Homemade Sauce

Ingredients for sauce:
1 can tomato sauce

¾ can water

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove – minced

¼ white onion – minced

4 carrots – chopped small

1 teaspoon rosemary – chopped

½ teaspoon basil – chopped

¼ teaspoon thyme – chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions for Sauce:

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and onion. Sauté for 30 seconds. Add the carrot and continue to sauté. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Stir every few minutes. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Ingredients for meat:

½ lb. lean ground beef or turkey

1 garlic clove- minced

¼ onion – chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions for meat:

In a skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté for a minute. Add the meat and cook for about 6-8 minutes (or until cooked through).

Focaccia Pizza with Sausage

Focaccia Pizza Sausage

 

 

Ingredients:
Focaccia Bread

Chicken Apple Sausage – sliced and cooked

Fresh Basil – about 5-10 pieces

1 cup mozzarella cheese

¼ cup Feta cheese

½ cup marinara sauce 

 

Heat the bread in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove bread and place on a cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil and then top with sauce, mozzarella cheese, basil, sausage, and feta.

Heat oven to 350. Cook pizza for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!!!

Focaccia Pizza Sausage

Ingredients:
Focaccia Bread

Chicken Apple Sausage – sliced and cooked

Fresh Basil – about 5-10 pieces

1 cup mozzarella cheese

¼ cup Feta cheese

½ cup marinara sauce

Heat the bread in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove bread and place on a cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil and then top with sauce, mozzarella cheese, basil, sausage, and feta.

Heat oven to 350. Cook pizza for about 10 minutes.

Focaccia Pizza Margarita

Focaccia Pizza Margarita

  Ingredients: Focaccia Bread

About 10 cherry or grape tomatoes

Extra Virgin Olive oil, salt, and pepper to coat tomatoes while baking

Fresh Basil – about 5-10 pieces

½ cup mozzarella cheese

¼ cup Feta cheese

 

Preheat oven to 275. Coat tomatoes with oil, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes.

 

Heat the bread in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove bread and place on a cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil and then top with mozzarella cheese, basil, tomatoes, and feta.

Heat oven to 350. Cook pizza for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!!! 

 

Focaccia Pizza Margarita

Servings: 1

Ingredients:
Focaccia Bread

About 10 cherry or grape tomatoes

Extra Virgin Olive oil, salt, and pepper to coat tomatoes while baking

Fresh Basil – about 5-10 pieces

½ cup mozzarella cheese

¼ cup Feta cheese

Preheat oven to 275. Coat tomatoes with oil, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes.

Heat the bread in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove bread and place on a cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil and then top with mozzarella cheese, basil, tomatoes, and feta.

Heat oven to 350. Cook pizza for about 10 minutes.

Quinoa Vegetable Balls

Quinoa Vegetable Balls

I made these on Easter to bring to my Granny's house as an appetizer. They smell and taste AMAZING! They are easy to make (after you get all your veggies chopped) and are very healthy too! You could even use these as leftovers to make a pita and hummus wrap. I served them warm with ranch dressing - we like ranch with everything!

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa

1/3 cup egg whites

5 carrots – shredded

1 ½ cups kale – washed and chopped

2 cloves garlic – minced

1/3 cup reduced fat feta cheese

1/3 -1/2 cup wheat flour

onion powder to taste

salt and pepper to taste

I went to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning and loaded up on fresh veggies!

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a cookie sheet or two with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients together. Mix until well combined.

Form small 1 inch balls with the mixture and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 22 minutes. Serve with low fat buttermilk ranch dressing. 

Quinoa Vegetable Balls

 Servings: 6 + as an appetizer

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa

1/3 cup egg whites

5 carrots – shredded

1 ½ cups kale – washed and chopped

2 cloves garlic – minced

1/3 cup reduced fat feta cheese

1/3 -1/2 cup wheat flour

onion powder to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a cookie sheet or two with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients together. Mix until well combined.

Form small 1 inch balls with the mixture and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 22 minutes. Serve with low fat buttermilk ranch dressing.

Rosemary Olive Oil Focaccia

 

Rosemary Olive Oil Focaccia

 

Ingredients:

 1 1/4 cups boiling water

  3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, divided

  1 tablespoon honey

  1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)

  3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

  1/4 cup olive oil, divided $

  1 teaspoon salt

  Cooking spray

  1 teaspoon water

  1 large egg yolk

  1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

 

Directions

Combine boiling water, 1 teaspoon rosemary, and honey in a large bowl;

 Cool for 4 minutes.

 Sprinkle yeast over honey mixture; let stand 5 minutes.

Spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 3 1/4 cups flour, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1 teaspoon salt to honey mixture, stirring to form a soft dough.

Flour a large cutting board. Place dough on board. Knead for 10 minutes – will turn smooth and elastic. Add more flour when necessary.

 This is how it should look when done.

 

Flour a large cutting board. Place dough on board. Knead for 10 minutes – will turn smooth and elastic. Add more flour when necessary.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Put the ball of dough in bowl and turn to coat the dough with spray. Dampen paper towels and lay over the bowl as a lid. Let sit for 45 minutes.

Spray a large cookie sheet. Spread dough onto cookie sheet. Cover with paper towels and let sit for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Uncover dough. Make indentations in top of dough using handle of a wooden spoon.

Combine 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon water, and egg yolk; brush over dough. 

 

Sprinkle with remaining rosemary and sea salt.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan and let cool.

 

Serve as a side, sandwich bread, pizza bread, or can dip in a mixture we like a lot. It consists of extra virgin olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and dry basil.

Rosemary Olive Oil Focaccia

Ingredients:

 1 1/4 cups boiling water

  3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, divided

  1 tablespoon honey

  1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)

  3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

  1/4 cup olive oil, divided $

  1 teaspoon salt

  Cooking spray

  1 teaspoon water

  1 large egg yolk

  1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

Directions

Combine boiling water, 1 teaspoon rosemary, and honey in a large bowl;

 Cool for 4 minutes.

 Sprinkle yeast over honey mixture; let stand 5 minutes.

Spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 3 1/4 cups flour, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1 teaspoon salt to honey mixture, stirring to form a soft dough.

Flour a large cutting board. Place dough on board. Knead for 10 minutes – will turn smooth and elastic. Add more flour when necessary.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Put the ball of dough in bowl and turn to coat the dough with spray. Dampen paper towels and lay over the bowl as a lid. Let sit for 45 minutes.

Spray a large cookie sheet. Spread dough onto cookie sheet. Cover with paper towels and let sit for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Uncover dough. Make indentations in top of dough using handle of a wooden spoon.

Combine 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon water, and egg yolk; brush over dough.

Sprinkle with remaining rosemary and sea salt.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan and let cool.