Food tour of Kansas City provides inspiration for Warm Feta Dip with Marinated Olives

Happy spring to all. Life has been a whirlwind the past six months with home construction, being displaced by construction and trying to keep our head above water in all ways after our big house move. Without a real kitchen, which was being completely remodeled, I wasn’t feeling terribly inspired since we were relying heavily on easy dinners and doing pretty much no entertaining.

Thankfully, the kitchen is now 99% completed. We’re just waiting on one last detail to be installed, and it’s a cosmetic install. So life in our new home is starting to settle in and feel like the new normal. We’re back to having friends for dinner occasionally and cooking most nights.

A few weeks ago I took a quick day trip up to Kansas City to visit my dear friend, RoxAnn, for the afternoon. The ironic thing is RoxAnn and I used to take day trips to shop in KC, and now she lives there. She made reservations at a fun, chic restaurant called The Restaurant at 1900 for lunch. We dined there and really enjoyed our food and the ambiance. She had a salmon salad that had a Mediterranean twist and included some lebana (strained yogurt) topped with a light fresh combo of veggies including fresh fennel. I chose the fish and chips, which were “stuffed” with beans. I would say there were beans in the batter — there wasn’t anything stuffed inside the actual fish. But it was delicious nonetheless. The “chips” were a couple of small, crispy, fry-like yucca sticks, and there was a tasty slaw on the side. It’s a restaurant I’d like to return to for dinner and perhaps linger longer.

RoxAnn planned out our many quick stops including the City Market, 20 E. Fifth St., where there were fun international shops including a great Italian one and a Mediterranean one, too. Several of the stands had incredibly low prices on beautiful produce, and I bought some flatbread that was a bit different than the Syrian flatbread I’m used to but still delicious, some dried currants, some pastas, and a couple of large arancini to go, and off we went to the next stop.

Christopher Elbow Chocolates at 1819 McGee St. was a treat for the eyes and taste buds. I instantly bought a dark chocolate that had caramel in it because I couldn’t resist and quickly popped it into my mouth. Next, I purchased some gorgeous egg-shaped chocolates for Easter. I’ve even stayed out of the box I got for my husband, but it’s taken serious will power.

Have you heard of Ibis Bakery? Oh my — how their loaves of bread and pastries can lure you in. I got a loaf of sourdough for my husband and an almond croissant and palmier for me. This stop, at 1684 Grand, also happened to have Messenger Coffee under the same roof, thankfully, because I needed a bit of extra caffeine for the drive home. RoxAnn bought a loaf and also a beautiful figure eight-shaped seeded bread they said was good for dipping in oil. Next time, I’ll buy one of those, too.

Our last and perhaps most memorable stop was at Baba’s Pantry, a Palestinian deli at 1019 E 63rd St. that had so many offerings to go, I had to borrow a cooler. The interior was bright and beautifully designed, and “Baba” himself greeted us as we walked in the door. Then, we went to town, almost clearing out all the delicious offerings. I purchased marinated Castelvetrano olives, lebana (which they called lebne), feta dip with roasted olives, avocado hummus (Baba’s wife enthusiastically sold me on this), freshly fried pita chips, and some pickled turnips. Last fall, Baba’s Pantry was written up in Bon Appetit magazine as one of the “10 Best New Restaurants 2022.”

As we checked out with our baskets overflowing, RoxAnn said, “Oh, we’d also like to try your lemonade.” Avocado ginger and pomegranate were the available flavors, and we got one of each, of course. Off we walked with our arms loaded down by bags of Palestinian treats and lemonades, smiling from ear-to-ear. I would drive to Kansas City just to go to Baba’s Pantry and load up again.

Everything I bought at Baba’s Pantry was delightfully delicious. And the feta and roasted olive dip got my wheels turning. I found a recipe that is similar — although served warm. It comes from a blog called Food Dolls authored by two beautiful, young Egyptian women. These dolls know how to cook. Enjoy this delicious dip with pita, pita chips or crostini.

Warm Feta Dip with Marinated Olives

Dip:

8 ounces feta cheese

8 ounces whipped cream cheese

¼ cup leban or Greek yogurt

½ cup mozzarella cheese

¼ cup heavy cream

Olives:

1 cup chopped Castelvetrano olives

1 cup chopped Kalamata olives

4 cloves garlic, finely grated

¼ bunch fresh parsley

Juice of ½ lemon

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add all the dip ingredients for the warm feta dip to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth and creamy.

Transfer the mixture to a 10-inch skillet or baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until melted and bubbly. While the feta dip is baking, combine all of the ingredients for the olives in a bowl. Set aside to marinate at least 20 minutes.

Spread the marinated olives over the warm feta dip, and enjoy.

This story was originally published April 18, 2023 at 2:38 PM.