Feta Olive Pesto Spread

We're about to embark on that time of year when snowflakes fall on nose and eyelashes, bells jingle, and family and friends come home for the holidays! All of this means more parties, get togethers and nights filled with the angst of trying to decide what to feed all of these people!

This spreadable feta-olive pesto spread is perfect - if you take some shortcuts, it's super easy and fast to put together and if you take the long way it's still not that hard. It will definitely impress your guests if you serve it like we did - in individual serving cups (sake cups) with little bread sticks!

I use Macedonian feta - it is soft, creamy and mild tasting.When I'm not interested in making it from scratch, I head to my local Greek grocery store and buy some of their delicious olive pesto. I only need about 2 tablespoons of olive pesto per cup of feta. I throw the pesto and feta in a food processor and pulse until it comes together. If you don't like olives you could add traditional pesto instead. A mild goat cheese would work too!

If you want to make it from scratch, you can make the pesto ahead of time. It's also good on pasta!

Olive Pesto

Ingredients

1 tbsp sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
1/2 c kalamata olives, no pits

Instructions

1. Add tomatoes, cheese, garlic and pine nuts to food processor. Pulse until combined but chunky.
2. Add olives and olive oil.
3. Pulse until combined. You want it to have texture - that is, not too smooth.

Refrigerate.

Feta-olive pesto spread

Ingredients

1 c Macedonian feta
2 tbsp olive pesto

Instructions

Combine and pulse feta and pesto until combined.

Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Carmelized onions and Turnips

Brussel sprouts are often on people's "most hated" veggie lists. They are reviled for their smell, texture, taste etc. I admit that I don't EVER crave them like I do potatoes. The brussel sprouts of my childhood were boiled and stinky and did not taste good (sorry Mom) but today there are so many different ways to prepare them - roast, fried, halved, shaved, grated - that I believe there is a brussel sprout dish out there for everyone to enjoy.

Today's recipe showcases shaved or grated brussel sprouts along with another hated vegetable - turnip! But the turnip is roasted first which caramelizes them to bring out their sweetness. The kicker is the caramelized onions that are also added to complete the dish. The dish brought rave reviews from everyone at Thanksgiving dinner which included a few brussel sprout haters!

Ingredients

2 lbs brussel sprouts, outer leaves removed
Medium turnip, diced into 1 inch cubes
1 cup caramelized onions - see here for recipe
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt, divided

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In small bowl add turnip, tablespoon of oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix.
3. Place on baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes until caramelized and easily pierced.
4. Remove and set aside.
5. Carefully grate brussel sprouts with hand grater or use a slicer attachment on your food processor.
6. Add 1 tablespoon butter to large nonstick saute pan over medium high heat.
7. Add brussel sprouts & salt and saute for 5 minutes.
8. Add caramelized onions and turnips.
9. Saute for additional 5 minutes.

Serve s 8-10.