Feta Spread

I love Feta. It’s one of my favorite cheeses. If you like it even half as much as I do then you will love this spread. The flavors blend perfectly: tangy Feta, brightened by lemon, with a little heat from jalapenos and a hint of robust garlic flavor. Delicious. I tried this warm, cold and at room temperature and it was tasty each way. I think room temperature is my favorite. I served this with toasted sandwich thins and vegetables for dipping, but I also melted some of the leftover spread over popcorn and that was amazing as well. I listed a serving as a quarter cup, which is a pretty generous serving because with these intense flavors, a little goes a long way. This recipe makes 3 full cups of Feta Spread, so unless you’re serving it at a party you’ll likely have leftovers to experiment with!

Feta Spread

Source: Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients:
1 bulb of garlic
3 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 whole jalapeno peppers
2 (8 oz) bricks of Feta cheese
Juice from half a lemon
Zest from half a lemon
2 T water
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1.    Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2.    Chop the top (pointy part) off of the garlic bulb so the cloves are exposed. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil into the bulb. Wrap the bulb in aluminum foil and place on the baking sheet. Brush the outsides of the jalapeno peppers with 1-2 teaspoon(s) of oil and set them on the baking sheet. Roast the garlic and jalapenos in the oven together for about 30 minutes, or until the skin on the jalapenos is charred and easily peeled and the garlic is soft and golden brown. Peel the skins off the jalapenos and slice them open to discard the seeds. Chop the peppers and set aside.
3.    In a large bowl, place the bricks of feta and shred them using a fork. Add the jalapenos, lemon juice and lemon zest. Squeeze the garlic right out of the bulb into the bowl. It will be soft and easy to squeeze/mash out. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of water and mash everything together with a fork. If you’d like your feta to be a little more “wet” for your spread, you can add more water to taste. Add salt & pepper to taste and mix in. Serve or store in the fridge for up to a week.

Serving Suggestion:
I served this with sandwich thins that I’d lightly misted with olive oil cooking spray, toasted and cut into triangles and with veggies. Pita, crackers or bread would also be delicious.

Yields 12 (1/4 cup) servings. Weight Watchers Points Plus: 4 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Nutrition Information per serving from myfitnesspal.com: 135 calories, 3 g carbs, 12 g fat, 6 g protein, 0 g fiber