Greek Goddess Dip

I hope you’re eye-balling this gorgeous bowl of green goodness because you have plans to get together with a bunch of nice people in the very near future; that is always a good thing!

However, faced with the prospect of toting along a little somethin-somethin to contribute to the cause (sure, of course, I’ll be happy to bring an appetizer)….well, sometimes…….not such a good thing.

But don’t worry bunny, I am here for you, and we won’t let a lack of time, imagination or even sheer motivation stop you from being the natural crowd pleaser that you were born to be. This verdant dip, a riff off of the old school Green Goddess dressing from waaaaay back in the day (tarragon, mayo, anchovies, garlic, GREEN FOOD COLORING – delicious yes, but…no) gets its garden fresh flavor and color from actual green stuff. Like, stuff that grows in the dirt.

I know. Crazy, right?

We’ve got gobs of fresh herbs, we’ve got garlic, we’ve got lemon, we’ve got salty feta cheese (that’s where the Greek comes in…get it? GREEK Goddess?) blended into a luscious creamy cloud of seriously taste bud blowing happiness. Whip this up in the time it takes to say: what the heck can I bring to this shindig? Slice up a couple of peppers for dippin and you are there. Done. Ready to mix and mingle with the best of them.

Fresh herbs are the star of the show here and you can pretty much mix and match and use whatever you have, like or want. I kept it simple with some basic staples: flat leaf parsley, cilantro, dill and basil.

Into a food processor they go along with some green onion, garlic and lemon juice. Get that all nice and choppy.

In goes equal parts plain Greek yogurt and sour cream (or hey, just use yogurt…or just use sour cream. The name of the game here is easy, so work with what you have) some salty feta cheese crumbles, a grind or two of fresh black pepper, and a dab of mayonnaise, just to give the whole batch a super luxe mouth feel. ummmm.  Pulse. And pulse. Taste for seasoning but be careful with the salt…. the feta may be plenty salty without adding any more. Give it a scrape down and call it a day.  Whack it into a bowl, and you are almost out the door!

To make it look like you actually spent a lot of time thinking about it, slice up one each red, green and yellow bell peppers, and fan em around your bowl of dip like a big Lithuanian sunburst. Yes, those are the colors of the flag of Lithuania.

And yes, I admittedly had to google it.

But isn’t it pretty?

You can always make this ahead of time. The dip stays perfect covered in the refrigerator for three or four days. It may get a little thicker as it chills, you can always thin it out with a little milk. Peppers can be sliced and stored in a zip lock bag until go time.

Smart AND good-looking.

I like that in my appetizers.

RECIPE BELOW: