snacking on feta

I'm most often pleased when I have at least five different sorts of cheese. The standard wedge of parmesan-reggiano, soft chevre goat cheese, extra sharp cheddar, double creme brie, halloumi, and feta are all cheeses which make my mealtimes and, maybe even more importantly, my snacks extra delicious throughout the week.



Feta is a cheese that I don't often use in regular cooking. It is great on salads, a good addition to omelets, but late at night, I found myself attempting to snack on feta. If you've tried this, you'll agree with me that feta is pretty anti-quick fingered late-night snacking.

Since I bought a bunch of basil from the farmer's market again, I had the easy idea of a basil mint feta spread, with lemon, of course.

Basil Mint Feta Spread

1 bunch basil
5 leaves of mint
half a block of feta
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove of garlic or 2 cloves roasted garlic

optional: 2 T roasted almonds
optional: 3 T creme fraiche or sour cream

I happened to have roasted almonds which I had blitzed earlier to sprinkle over my oatmeal. To do this, toast the almonds on a sheet in the toaster oven on medium-high, and then use a mini processor to roughly chop them up.

I'm not really sure what people did before food processors. Don't be shy about getting one. A small one will cost around twenty dollars, and will save you a lot of elbow grease. Plus, you'll be able to make hummus!

Place basil, mint, lemon juice, and garlic in the processor and blend until semi-smooth. Then, crumble in feta and process until creamy and combined.

If you are going to add in the creme fraiche or sour cream, spoon into processor and blend again.

I served this on my favorite snacking bread "knäckebröd" which is a Swedish crisp bread often made by Wasa, topped with some cherry tomatoes I also bought for a song at the farmer's market. I sprinkled more roasted almond bits on top.

As they say in Swedish varsagod och äta!