Got Leftovers?

I realize my previous recipe, the Creamy Lemon Barley Salad with Asparagus and Peppered Almond Feta leaves you with a lot of salad component leftovers - extra feta, extra creamy lemon dressing and extra yogurt cheese so I thought I would give you some ideas on things to make with them. NOTE - recipes for the yogurt cheese, feta and salad dressing are in the barley salad post.

Dilled Yogurt Cream Cheese Type Spread

First, I like to make a simple cream cheese type spread with the yogurt cheese. It gets thick enough in the fridge to spread so I add salt, onion powder, garlic powder and dried dill for a really nice, tangy spread. I've shown it here on ryvita crackers but it's fab on bagels too!

• yogurt cheese
• sea salt
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• dried dill

Simply mix together to taste.

Baby Spinach, Romaine and Avocado Salad with Peppered Almond Feta, Pumpkin Seeds and a Creamy Lemon Mint Dressing

Second, you can use the creamy lemon dressing as a regular salad dressing but note - it's too lemony for a leaf dressing. That strong lemon taste gets subdued in the barley salad but it's pretty full on otherwise. The dressing also gets quite thick when it sits in the fridge so just water it down slightly - that both brings the texture back to normal and dilutes the taste. For these salads I also added chopped fresh mint for a creamy lemon mint dressing and it was gorgeous!

• baby spinach
• romaine leaves, torn
• shallots
• avocado, diced
• cucumber, sliced and quartered
• toasted pumpkin seeds
• peppered almond feta
• creamy lemon mint dressing 

This was an absolutely delicious salad!! Just gently toss everything but the feta and pumpkin seeds in a good amount of dressing until well coated then crumble the feta on top and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds.

 Asparagus, Peppered Almond Feta and Pine Nut Pizza

Third, if you still have feta leftover and some asparagus you can make this pizza I made - it's SO GOOD! I just used a store bought pizza base here to make it easy but you can also make your own base. 

• pizza base
• peppered almond feta
• asparagus
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

• toasted pine nuts

Simply bake the base plain until cooked - crisp base and puffy and golden. Remove from the oven and spread the peppered almond feta over top - not too thick, just a nice even spread. Sauté the asparagus whole in a little olive oil, pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper until just fork tender, place a lid over now and again to steam it as you fry. Lay on top of the pizza then sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. 

I served mine with a simple mixed leaf, avocado and cucumber side salad tossed with the creamy lemon mint dressing as per instructed above. A beautiful simple dinner!

♥