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Labneh Dip

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Plate with cut up carrots and cucumbers, crackers and pretzels with labneh dip in a bowl in the middle

This labneh dip is creamy, tangy and addictive and is made with only three ingredients! It takes two minutes from start to finish and is the hit of any party. I get asked for this recipe so many times in the span of one event.

This dip recipe is completely thanks to my mom. She makes this very often at her dinner parties, served with some crackers. It’s the perfect little appetizer, and so stress free for anyone to prepare.

What is Labneh?

Very common in the Middle East, labneh is basically yogurt that’s strained until it’s the creamy consistency of cream cheese. It’s way healthier though, because it’s lower in fat and high in proteins. We usually serve it with a drizzle of olive oil on top, and sometimes some dried mint. It’s the perfect creamy spread to use in this dip.

How to make Labneh at home

Mix together yogurt with a pinch of salt and strain it in a cheesecloth set over a colander for 24-48 hours in the fridge. The longer it sits, the more solid the labneh is. I however, took the even easier route and used storebought!

The three ingredients in your labneh dip

Labneh

Yogurt (normal yogurt, but you can sub greek or even sour cream)

Dry Vegetable Soup Mix

That is it! The vegetable soup kind of hydrates itself in the dip, so you get this tangy flavor and little flecks of veggies and herbs. It defies logic, but it tastes so so good!

I haven’t tried this with any other type of soup mix, but I’m pretty sure it’d be delicious with onion soup.

Serve this dip with…

We rarely even resort to chips. To keep this a little healthier, we love having this with cut up veggies. Faves are cucumbers, carrots and bell peppers. I also think pretzel chips are delicious with this, as well as whole wheat Ritz crackers. Of course, chips will be a total win too. Or you can even use it is a spread in a sandwich!

Dip lasts 3-4 days tightly covered in the fridge

Plate with cut up carrots and cucumbers, crackers and pretzels with labneh dip in a bowl in the middle

Labneh Dip

A 3 ingredient easy peasy dip made with labneh, yogurt, and dried vegetable soup mix. Might sound a little weird, but it is addictive. Everyone will ask you for the recipe!
5 from 5 votes
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Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
0 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 195kcal
Author: Farah Abumaizar

Ingredients

  • 250 g Labneh 1 cup
  • 2 cups yogurt (2 small containers)
  • 1 dried vegetable soup mix

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients together. Taste and add more labneh or yogurt if you like a milder tasting dip. Store in the fridge until ready to serve, then serve with cut up vegetables, chips or crackers.

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcal
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Easy Overnight Dill Pickles

Macarona Billaban

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Plate of cut up veggies and crackers with 3 ingredient labneh dip in the middle

Homemade Pesto Sauce

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Homemade pesto sauce in a jar with a spoon scooping some out

Easy, beautiful, bright homemade pesto sauce with lots of fresh basil, parmesan cheese, and toasted nuts. What’s not to love about pesto?

A 5 minute, super easy blender recipe for the best flavor packed vibrant homemade pesto sauce. This makes plenty, so I included freezer instructions too! So much flavor.

What is pesto?

Pesto sauce is an uncooked Italian sauce usually made with fresh basil, nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil. Other variations exist, like spinach pesto, but we are sticking to a classic here with just a few twists.

Ingredients for homemade pesto sauce in a blender

Ingredient breakdown:

Fresh basil

Olive Oil- good quality stuff here! You’ll use a lot and the flavor is very evident so go for the fancy stuff.

Toasted nuts: I used a mix of pine nuts and slivered almonds, but you can use either or. I think toasting the nuts gives SO much more flavor, and it just takes an extra couple minutes. Find instructions on toasting pine nuts here:

Garlic cloves- roughly chopped. I use quite a bit, because I’m a garlic addict, but you could halve the amount if you prefer, taste, then decide whether to add more.

Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Lemon juice and zest- the zest gives such a beautiful brightness to the flavor

Pinch of red chili flakes- because I can’t resist a tiny bit of heat (still totally kid friendly, and you can omit this)

Salt

How do I make homemade pesto sauce?

It couldn’t be easier. You add all the ingredients except the olive oil into the bowl of food processor. Mix mix mix until the basil is chopped finely and everything has combined. Then, slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the mixer is running so that it properly combines and emulsifies. Stop one you’ve gotten a paste that still has some chunky bits in it.

Homemade pesto sauce blended in the bowl of a food processor

Storing leftover pesto:

I make a big batch (this will give you one full jar of pesto), and since pesto has so much flavor, you won’t need to use a lot in whatever recipe you’ll go on to use this for. Good news, pesto is one of the best things you could have in your fridge or freezer! It stores very well and defrosts beautifully.

To store in the fridge: cover the top of the pesto jar with a little olive oil to prevent the basil from browning. Store for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

To store in the freezer: Using a mini muffin tray or an ice cube tray, fill the cavities with pesto sauce. Pop in the freezer until pesto has frozen into little pesto cubes, then remove from tray and place in a freezer safe bag. This way, you have the perfect individual sized pesto cubes you can use whenever you need (they’ll take just 30 min- 1 hour to thaw) and you won’t have to defrost a whole jar at a time.

Pesto sauce portioned into a freezer safe container

What to use pesto with?

Pasta of course!

Scramble a little into your eggs

For the perfect sandwich spread (Turkey, pesto, and provolone trust for the win)

To liven up your grilled chicken or salmon

To mix into dips or salad dressings

On top of a pizza instead of or in addition to pizza sauce

To bake into homemade bread

Smear some on bruschetta

Homemade pesto sauce in a jar with a spoon scooping some out

Homemade Pesto Sauce

Easy, beautiful, bright homemade pesto sauce with lots of fresh basil, parmesan cheese, and toasted nuts.
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 172kcal
Author: Farah Abumaizar

Ingredients

  • 4 packed cups fresh basil leaves 100 g
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • the zest of one small lemon
  • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup toasted pine nuts, cooled
  • pinch red chili flakes
  • 1 cup good quality olive oil

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a food processor or blender, add all the ingredients from the basil leaves through to the red chili flakes (everything except the olive oil).
  • Blend to combine until basil is chopped up. Then, drizzle in the olive oil while blending until all the olive oil is added and a paste with some texture forms. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
  • Store in a tightly covered jar covered with a thin layer of olive oil in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for up to 6 months (instructions in the post)

Notes

Recipe loosely adapted from Cookie and Kate

Nutrition

Calories: 172kcal
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @everylittlecrumb or tag #everylittlecrumb!

If you liked this recipe, you might like:

Oven Baked Chicken Breasts

Macarona Billaban

Chicken Piccatta Pasta

Did you make this? Tag @everylittlecrumb or hashtag #everylittlecrumb and I’ll share your images!

Easy Spanokopita- Greek Spinach and Feta Pie

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Baked greek spinach pie spanokopita with pomegranate molasses glaze on the side

This easy spanokopita is a Greek spinach pie. Think flaky golden filo dough filled with a feta and ricotta spinach mixture. The crunchy exterior gives way to the tastiest creamy interior. Everyone who tried this had seconds!

Easy Spanokopita- Greek Spinach Pie. What is it?

It’s a Greek savory pie, filled with feta cheese and spinach, onions or spring onions, and usually eggs to thicken. This is where I used ricotta instead, to give creaminess to the feta and also enhance the flavor. It’s always baked in filo pastry, but the shape differs. You can find spanokopita spirals, sheet pies, and this lovely one pictured.

Breakdown of the ingredients:

Greek spinach pie with feta mix in a bowl with a wooden spoon

The filling is composed of:

A sautéed red onion

Feta Cheese

Ricotta Cheese

Thawed frozen spinach. Make sure to thoroughly drain this- press as much water out of it as you can so that the filling doesn’t make the pastry soggy.

Toasted Pine nuts- not typically used, but I love toasted nuts in anything, and they go perfectly in the filling.

Dried oregano

And to encase the lovely filling we use:

Filo Dough this comes from the freezer section of supermarkets. Thaw before use, and see more tips for using filo dough below.

Olive Oil most spanokopita recipes use melted butter to brush over the filo layers, but I feel a lot better about my waistline using olive oil here. It was an experiment and it worked! The layers were so light and still turned the perfect golden brown crispy color. Not to mention, the flavor of olive oil is spot on with this Mediterranean dish.

Easy Spanokopita- How to work with filo dough:

Everyone says it’s really hard to work with filo dough. I didn’t find it to be that difficult. This is probably due to the nature of this recipe, where the filo is sort of arranged and scrunched around the filling in a messy manner. Here’s some tips to keep in mind:

The Filo dough should be thawed, but still cool. I’d recommend thawing for overnight in the fridge (in the closed box) , but I thawed mine for a few hours before using and it still worked out great.

Filo dough dries out very quickly, so while assembling, lay a damp kitchen towel over the opened pack of dough.

Don’t panic if your dough tears. You can just use another sheet, or still use the torn sheet in one of the upper layers.

Brush each two layers dough thoroughly with olive oil. The olive oil is what will get the layers to crisp up the oven.

Assembling your Greek Spinach Pie:

In a large baking pan lined with parchment paper, place two sheets of filo dough vertically from top to bottom. Brush all over with olive oil. Place two sheets horizontally from left to right, and brush with olive oil. This is like the shape of a + sign.

Now, place two sheets of olive oil diagonally from the top left of the pan to the bottom right, and brush with olive oil. Place two sheets of filo pastry from the top right of the pan to the bottom left and brush with olive oil. This is in the shape of an X. Keep going until you’ve finished 16 filo sheets in the shape of a rough star. Heap the spinach feta filling in the middle of this.

Assembled raw greek spinach pie spanokopita on baking sheet

Now scrunch the edges of the filo pastry towards the center of the filling, in a messy heaped sort of shape like in the photo below. Brush the edges of this with olive oil, then you are ready to bake!

Assembled raw greek spinach pie spanokopita on baking sheet

The Pomegranate Molasses Honey Glaze:

This is the cherry on top of the greek spinach pie. I love the tanginess and sweetness that a little of the glaze drizzled on top of the finished pie offers. It’s as simple as whisking together two parts honey to one part pomegranate molasses. You can try using balsamic vinegar instead of the pomegranate molasses, or leave this out entirely.

Making ahead and storing:

You can prepare the pie in it’s entirety, wrap well and keep it in the fridge overnight before baking the next day.

Leftovers should be stored in the fridge and still taste delicious heated in the oven 2-3 days later.

You can even freeze the whole pie before baking, store well wrapped in the freezer for 3-4 months. Thaw overnight, and bake as directed (might have to add a few more minutes of total baking time).

Baked greek spinach pie spanokopita with pomegranate molasses glaze on the side

Easy Spanokopita (Greek Spinach and Feta Pie)

A crispy golden filo dough pie filled with a creamy feta and ricotta mixture
5 from 9 votes
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: greek
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 380kcal
Author: Farah Abumaizar

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small red onion, finely diced
  • 200 g feta cheese 8 oz
  • 100 g ricotta cheese 1/2 cup
  • 400 g frozen spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained 14 oz, small bag
  • 2 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 16 filo dough sheets from one box of filo pastry, thawed
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

For the pomegranate molasses honey glaze:

  • 2 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200 C (425 F)
  • In a small skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and once hot add the diced onion. Cook until soft and translucent 3-5 min, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.
  • In a large bowl, stir together the feta, ricotta, spinach, toasted pine nuts, oregano, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cooked onion until thoroughly combined. Set filling mixture aside.
  • In a large baking pan lined with parchment paper, place two sheets of filo dough vertically from top to bottom. Brush all over with olive oil. Place two sheets horizontally from left to right, and brush with olive oil. This is like the shape of a + sign.
  • Now, place two sheets of olive oil diagonally from the top left of the pan to the bottom right, and brush with olive oil. Place two sheets of filo pastry from the top right of the pan to the bottom left and brush with olive oil. This is in the shape of an X.
  • Repeat the entire process one more time (top to bottom, left to right, then an x). Each time you place two sheets of filo dough down, you have to brush them thoroughly with olive oil. You'll end up with a rough star shape.
  • Place the spinach feta filling in a circular shape in the middle of the star.
  • Scrunch the edges of the filo dough towards the filling, leaving most of the filling exposed, just like the picture shows. Brush these scrunched up edges thoroughly with olive oil.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. While it's baking, you can prepare the pomegranate molasses honey glaze.

For the glaze:

  • Mix together the honey and pomegranate molasses until combined. Use this for drizzling over the pie when it's out of the oven.
  • Serve the spanokopita warm or at room temperature, with extra glaze for whoever wants it.

Nutrition

Calories: 380kcal
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @everylittlecrumb or tag #everylittlecrumb!

If you liked this recipe, you might like:

Homemade Pizza Dough

Strawberry Halloumi Salad

Sweet Potato Gnocchi in a Brown Butter Sage Sauce

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Baked greek spinach pie spanokopita with pomegranate molasses glaze on the side

Healthy Pumpkin Bars

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healthy pumpkin bars cut up with a glass of milk

Healthy pumpkin bars that are gluten free, fat free, and refined sugar free. Made with almond flour and oat flour for hearty and moist bars studded with chocolate chips and completely kid friendly.

It’s finally here! Pumpkin season is upon us and I have officially rolled out the red carpet. Welcome, pumpkin. Welcome, cinnamon and nutmeg and warm spices and hot drinks. There’s so much I want to do with pumpkin but I started off modestly, with this easy one bowl recipe for moist pumpkin spiced pumpkin bars with chocolate chips. My kids really loved these, which surprised me because they are completely attuned to when I try and make healthy swaps in any dessert recipe. They usually don’t approve. So when they do, you better believe that recipe is getting filed away for make again soon purposes.

healthy pumpkin bars stacked with a glass of milk at the back

Why should you make healthy pumpkin bars?

Because they are one bowl, so easy, take next to no time and effort, guilt free, and really good! These are super portable and great lunch box snacks or coffee accompaniments. They have a good amount of fiber in them from the oats, and some protein from the almond flour. Not to mention the antioxidants from the pumpkin.

What goes in the bars?

Pumpkin puree- which I get from a can. Not pumpkin pie filling, just plain pumpkin.

Eggs

Unrefined Sugar– you can use cane sugar, coconut sugar, or regular sugar if that’s your jam.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: Can’t find this? then make your own! Simply combine: 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/8 ground cloves. You just made pumpkin pie spice!

Cinnamon: for even more cinnamon-y goodness

Cardamom: optional, but I like the flavor it gives

Vanilla, salt, and baking soda

Chocolate chips or any other add ons. Think pecans, walnuts, dried cranberries.

Flours: Almond meal or flour, and Oat flour.

How to make oat flour:

If you don’t want to buy ready made oat flour, all you need to do is process old fashioned oats in a food processor until a powdery dust forms. You’ll need 1 cup of oats to make 1 cup of oat flour.

How to make the bars:

You whisk together the eggs briefly until combined, add the canned pumpkin, sugar and spices, then whisk in the almond and oat flour.

Pour the batter into a parchment lined baking pan (either 8×8 or 9×9) and bake until golden on top and toothpick inserted comes out clean. It’ll take a little more time if using the smaller size pan. Over all, they need around 30-35 minutes in the oven.

Storing the pumpkin bars:

Store them tightly wrapped in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months.

healthy pumpkin bars stacked with a glass of milk at the back

Healthy Pumpkin Bars

Moist pumpkin bars studded with chocolate chips and full of autumn spice, gluten free and super healthy! No flour in these, barely any sugar and no fat at all. Kid friendly!
5 from 5 votes
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Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 188kcal
Author: Farah Abumaizar

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 can pumpkin puree 15 oz
  • 1/2 cup unrefined sugar like cane or coconut
  • 2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice * see notes
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch cardamom (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups almond flour or meal
  • 1 cup oat flour* see above post for details
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F). Lightly grease an 8×8 or 9×9 inch square pan and line with parchment paper.
  • Whisk the eggs to lightly beat them for 10 seconds or so. Add the pumpkin puree, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and whisk until thoroughly combined.
  • Add the almond flour and oat flour and whisk until well mixed. Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula.
  • Pour batter into the lined baking pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until bars are set and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes

Recipe adapted from ifoodreal
 
 

Nutrition

Calories: 188kcal
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healthy pumpkin bars cut up

If you liked this recipe, you might like:

Simple Healthy Banana Bread

Super Healthy Blueberry Muffins

Healthy Blueberry Crisp

Did you make this? Tag @everylittlecrumb or hashtag #everylittlecrumb and I’ll share your images!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

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Hearty and full of subtle flavor with tender beef cubes made soft from hours of slow cooking. Slow cooker beef stew is a set it and forget it type meal. Just throw a bunch of ingredients into a slow cooker and let them do their thang.

It might not feel like it, but autumn is technically in session and this is a great stew for it!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew: The breakdown

Beef : Use any cut of boneless beef cubes like stew meat or chuck. Don’t bother with an expensive cut of meat because the slow cooking process will break down even the toughest cuts. Brown the beef in hot olive oil before slow cooking. This adds a lot of flavor, but if you really want to you can skip this step.

Veggies: With a stew, you want sturdy veggies that hold up to being cooked for so long. Therefore, I used carrots, celery, and baby potatoes. Leave the skin on the potatoes to make this even easier, after thoroughly washing them. To substitute with regular sized potatoes, cut them into 1.5 inch chunks.

Liquid and Flavoring: Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and balsamic vinegar are added for flavor. The meat gets cooked in a beef broth resulting in a deeper flavor. I don’t even bother preparing broth from the bouillon  cubes. Pour hot water over the pan ingredients and crumble the bouillon cubes on top. Voila! Instant beef broth.

Dried herbs and paprika round this out. Dissolve cornstarch into a little of the broth and add back to the stew to cook further and thicken it.

Can I make this without a slow cooker?

You absolutely can! Here’s how. Place all the ingredients (browned beef, onions and garlic, liquid ingredients and herbs) EXCEPT the carrots, potatoes, and celery. into an oven safe casserole dish. A Dutch oven would work perfectly here. Cook the dish covered in a 325 F oven for two hours, then add the chopped vegetables, return to the oven and cook for a further hour. Vegetables and beef should be tender.

Storing leftover beef stew:

This is even better the next day. All the flavor deepens significantly. Store the beef stew tightly covered in the fridge for 3-4 days. Heat up leftovers in the microwave, a 180C oven or on the stove over medium heat.

It also freezes very well in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw the day before using and reheat in a 180 C oven or on the stove over medium heat.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Tender beef cubes in a warm flavorful stew with potatoes, carrots, and celery made easy in a slow cooker.
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 236kcal
Author: Farah Abumaizar

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 kg stew beef, cut into 1.5 inch cubes 2 lbs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 4 large carrots, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices
  • 500 g baby potatoes, quartered 1 lb
  • 2 stalks celery, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
  • 1.5 beef bouillon cubes
  • 3 cups hot water
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoon cornstarch (cornflour)

Instructions

  • Pat dry the beef cubes and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Once very hot, add the beef cubes to the skillet and brown in two batches, about 5 minutes each batch, turning the cubes over halfway through. Place the beef cubes in the slow cooker.
  • To the same skillet, reduce heat to medium, add the diced onion and garlic and balsamic vinegar, cooking until onions have softened about 5 minutes. Add in the tomato paste and cook for just another minute, then add this mixture to the slow cooker.
  • Add the carrots, potatoes, celery to the slow cooker. Crumble the beef bouillon cubes on top of the vegetables and add the hot water. Add the dried parsley, dried herbs, thyme or oregano, and paprika. Stir the ingredients in the slow cooker to evenly distribute.
  • Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. Once beef cubes are tender and can easily be cut apart with a fork, it's ready. To thicken the stew, remove a few tablespoons of the liquid from the slow cooker to a small bowl, add the cornstarch and mix until a paste forms, then return the cornstarch paste to the bowl of the slow cooker. Cook for another 10-20 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 236kcal
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @everylittlecrumb or tag #everylittlecrumb!

If you liked this, you might like:

Slow Cooker Pulled BBQ Beef

Slow Cooker Beef Chili

or

Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks

Did you make this? Tag @everylittlecrumb or hashtag #everylittlecrumb and I’ll share your images!