A few nights ago after work I met some of my girlfriends for a hike and picnic at Griffith Observatory. Griffith Park is a great place to go when you are visiting LA, or even if you already live here! There is a couple mile hike that starts up behind the Observatory and loops around to give you great views of the city and gets you very close to the Hollywood sign. The Observatory itself is cool too – they have two huge telescopes that you can use to view the stars. I even got to see Saturn when I was there last time.

After all that exercise, we dug into this Creamy Feta Dip I made. It was SO GOOD. It was SO creamy and just a perfect bite of feta heaven. Also, very simple to make! First, you have to roast jalapenos and garlic, which made our apartment smell delicious.

I made half the recipe for 6 people and it was plenty. If you want leftovers or are bringing this dip to a party, definitely make the full recipe. I didn’t really know how to take a good picture of creamy dip, so you’ll have to trust me on how awesome this is!

Recipe from How Sweet It Is

Creamy Feta Dip with Jalapenos 

makes about 2 cups [a little goes a long way!]

2 bricks of feta cheese, 8 ounces each

3 whole jalapeno peppers

1/4 cup olive oil + 1 tablespoon

1 bulb garlic

the juice of half a lemon

the zest of half a lemon

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the top off the garlic bulb and drizzle it with a teaspoon of olive oil. Wrap it in foil and roast for 25-30 minutes, or until garlic is golden in color. At the same time, brush the jalapenos with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Either grill or roast them – I stuck them in the oven with garlic and just watched until they were charred. Remove both from oven and let cool. Once jalapenos are cooled, remove skins, cut in half and discard the seeds. Chop into small pieces. Don’t touch your eyes!

In a large bowl, crumble the feta bricks. [Crumbling the bricks yourself works best, but if you can only find crumbled feta that is fine.] Add chopped jalapenos, the zest of half a lemon, and the juice of half a lemon. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb directly into the feta. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil and mash with a fork. You want the feta to be a bit “wet” – I can best describe it as a cross between a spread and a dip. There is no right or wrong – make it however you’d like. Taste the feta and season with salt and pepper. Serve with pita chips, warm pita or naan, or spread it on sandwiches. Store it in the fridge for up to one week – I find that I like it best at room temperature, so allow it to sit out for about 30 minutes before serving. We also think it would be great with some kalamata olives.