“Tirokafteri” Style Feta Dip
Necessity is the mother of invention! I was alone in Kai for a lunch shift and found myself overwhelmed with prep work. I needed to whip up something extra for one of my tasty lunch bowls – it was missing a little flavour explosion. I happened to have blackberries, beets and the addictive Spanish almonds from Sheridans so I immediately thought: Tirokafteri, the greek feta dip. I whipped up some feta, tahini, garlic, velvet cloud, a pinch of cumin and a dash of olive oil and I had this amazing queen of dips that I use all the time for our mezzes. It can also be slathered over baked beans on toast or served with corn chips and a quick pico – the list is endless!
500g of beets, colours of your choice (roughly chopped)
100g of blackberries
75 grams of Valencian Fried Almonds with Herbs
100g of Roussas Barrel-Aged Feta Cheese
60 mls of Tahini (from Lebanon is best)
3 cloves of Garlic
10g of cumin
25 mls of Odysea Extra Virgin Olive Oil
100 mls of Velvet Cloud Yoghurt
To make the dip: pop the feta, yoghurt, garlic, cumin, tahini and olive oil in a blender and blitz until you have a smooth paste. Set aside.
In a large bowl toss the beets, blackberries and almonds with olive oil. To serve, place the salad beside a good dollop of the dip to enjoy them both together. Garnish with some torn basil or mint.
