Roasted Pepper and Feta Spread

I saw this on the Today Show this morning and it looked just sooooo yummy. Haven’t tried it out yet. Maybe for the next bookclub?

By chef and restaurateur Michael Psilakis
Makes 1 quart
This traditional roasted pepper and feta spread resembles a Greek romesco. It goes well with just about anything and is wonderful on its own as a dipping agent for crudites or potato chips.
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 Spanish or sweet onion, thickly sliced
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2 fire-roasted red bell peppers, home roasted or store-bought, cut into strips
• 1 to 2 pepperoncini (pickled yellow peppers) to taste, sliced
• 0.5 teaspoon dry Greek oregano
• 2 pinch ground coriander
• 2 pinch ground cumin
• 4 small, picked sprigs parsley
• 4 small, picked sprigs dill
• 1 tablespoon snipped chives or scallion greens, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lemon zest or 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
DIRECTIONS
Brush the onion slices with a little olive oil and season with kosher salt and pepper. On a hot grill pan or in a cast-iron skillet, grill the onion until tender and slightly char-marked. Separate into rings.

In a food processor, combine all the remaining ingredients and process until very smooth. Taste for seasoning but be careful not to add too much salt, as the feta is very salty.

White Urad Beans with Fresh Lemon Juice

If you can’t tell, I’m on a kick with the whole Indian thing. I made this the other night accompanied by the spinach/paneer dish. Very impressed. Excellent. And the colors in this are amazing.
This recipe comes from p. 357 of “1,000 Indian Recipes” by Neelam Batra. I used a combination of 2 cups of vegetable broth and water to cook the dal. Urad beans are available at the DeKalb Farmers Market.

1 1/4 c white urad beans (dhulli urad dal), washed 3 times
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (I used a little extra)
1/2 c fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp vege oil
1 tsp ghee
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp peeled, minced ginger
1 serrano pepper, minced
1 tbsp minced red bell pepper
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground paprika

1. Soak dal in water for @2 hours. Put in sauce pan with 3.5 cups of water (I used 2 cup vegetable broth, 1.5 cups water), tumeric, and salt. Bring to boil, reduce to med heat and let it boil for 10 min. Turn down heat and let simmer for 15 min, until water is almost all absorbed (this never happened for me. I let it go 30 min, then drained it a little). Add lemon juice and cilantro. BE CAREFUL: overstirring will make this starchy and overcooking will make mush. Watch carefully and taste every few minutes.

2. Heat the oil and ghee in a saucepan over med-high heat. Add cumin seeds (they should sizzle). Quickly add onion and reduce to med heat for @5 min (until golden brown).

3. Add the ginger, serrano, bell pepper and stir @1 min. Add the coriander, cumin and paprika. Stir. Add to dal. Swirl lightly to mix. Serve.