I adore cheese in more ways than can be counted. There’s something about the creaminess and the “mouth feel” of real full-fat cheese that I find purely addictive. Cheese also has a magical ability to add multiple dimensions of flavor to food from pasta dishes to bakes and risottos.
But isn’t eating full-fat cheese bad for me? Well, no, actually. For thousands of years people throughout the Mediterranean region have been enjoying full-fat dairy foods like cheese and yogurt, yet rates of heart disease are traditionally very low.
The main reason is because dairy foods have never been eaten in great quantities. A common trait in cooking throughout the Mediterranean region is that the flavor of the food should shine through. Instead of drowning food in cheese, for example, it’s used sparingly and often it will be a full-flavored cheese like Parmesan, where a little goes a long way.
Other diary foods like milk, butter and cream have rarely been consumed in Mediterranean populations because these foods easily spoiled in the warm Mediterranean climate in the days before refrigeration (so the milk was turned into cheese and yogurt to help preserve it).
And that’s pretty much how Trudy and I enjoy dairy foods too. We eat full-fat cheese and yogurt regularly, but in small amounts. This way, we get the satisfaction of eating real food, while only consuming small amounts of saturated fat.
Now on to the recipe, and I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that it contains cheese! One of my favorite cheeses actually, feta. I’m a huge fan of Greek food, and part of the reason is because I love feta so much. Its crumbly yet creamy texture makes it such a unique cheese — and it also happens to be lower in saturated fat than most full-fat cheeses.
This feta and white bean dip is velvety smooth, and ridiculously creamy. In fact you’d never know it contains white beans at all because its texture is similar to cream cheese. Yet the white beans add lots of fiber, protein and goodness.
You can use this dip for dipping (of course), or it makes a great spread on top of bruschetta or whole grain crackers. When you combine it with fresh, crisp salad vegetables it also makes a great filling for sandwiches and wraps.
Feta & White Bean Dip
A creamy combination of feta cheese and white beans with herbs and a hint of garlic and lemon.
Makes 1 1/2 cups
- 7 oz (200g) feta cheese (use a creamy feta instead of a crumbly feta for best results)
- 1 cup canned white beans (such as cannellini) – rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic – minced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
PLACE all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
8 Comments
Oh my gosh this recipe looks wonderful – I can’t wait to try it. I don’t eat very much dairy at all but this I will splurge on.
Thanks!
Hi Courtney. There’s nothing better than a splurge once in a while. Hope you enjoy it!
I love the addition of feta to this (OK, I love feta in general). I’ve enjoyed white bean based spreads at Mediterranean type restaurants, but whenever I’ve tried to make similar dips at home it always lacked a little something. This recipe looks like it has more than a little something.
Can’t wait to try it.
Ric,
I can’t wait until we try this dip! If it tastes anything close to how it looks in this great picture, than I know it’ll be incredible. In fact I want to eat the photo lol. Really though, I am imagining how well the white beans go with the feta.
I made this dip and mine just turned out ok. Maybe it was my food processor not being powerful enough, but my dip didn’t come out quite as smooth as your picture looks. Also, I’d probably reduce the lemon juice just for my own taste. I dipped some pita bread with the dip, though, and it tasted pretty good. Thanks for the recipe!
Emily: Hope you enjoy it as much as the restaurant dips you’ve had in the past. We actually made up another batch a couple of days ago and used dried rosemary instead of oregano, and that tasted good too.
Robert: Glad you found the shot so appetizing — although I wouldn’t recommend eating photos of food unless you’re on a very low calorie diet
Teri: Sorry to hear that the dip didn’t come out as smooth and creamy for you as it did for us. We actually found that the food processor mixed the dip up much better when we had it at a slow speed (it didn’t really ‘catch on’ at a higher speed), so perhaps that might have been the problem?
This is a great recipe. I make versions of this all the time — some with just a couple oz of feta and a handful of juicy green olives. It also is good with chick peas.
Very nice! I’m so going to try this over the holiday break! Happy New Year!