Oh, hi! 
How was your weekend everyone?
Ben and I kicked things off with dinner, drinks, and bad hairdo spotting with friends at Mullets on Friday night, followed by an I-Cubs game under the stars (bucket list item!)
The rest of the weekend was filled with summery activities like gardening (I put up a wire fence to replace the TWO plastic ones the rabbits have chewed through – little a-holes have developed a taste for my cukes!), lots of walks, and some pathetic tennis playing. Seriously, just absolutely no skillz whatsoever on the court. And now my arm hurts.
Anyways! It was HOT throughout and I continued to keep my stove off, favoring dishes that don’t require any heat to make, like this Greek Dip Platter I’ve made twice in the past three days.
The recipe is inspired by a cream cheese-based Mediterranean dip my Mom makes for parties all the time, but I swapped out the cream cheese for tangy Greek yogurt, and added a layer of silky-smooth roasted red pepper hummus on top. Cooling cucumbers and tomatoes, salty kalamata olives and feta cheese, and fresh chopped parsley are sprinkled on, then everything’s scooped up with crackers and sliced veggies. This is an awesome protein-packed, quick, easy, and no-heat required light lunch or supper!
Start the Greek Dip Platter by choosing a deep plate with a lip. If all your plates are flat, no sweat – just use that instead. It’s all good!
Spread 6 oz plain Greek yogurt on the bottom of the plate.
Greek yogurt is thick and creamy, and provides awesome flavor and staying power to the dish due to its high protein content.
Next, dab some creamy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus on top then spread it around.
Sabra hummus is mind blowingly delish. It’s sooooo luxurious and creamy – like silk! I hate roasted red peppers, but this is my favorite flavor for some reason. You can pick any flavor you like best though.
Next, bust out the goodies! Top the yogurt and hummus with minced red onion, chopped cucumbers,
chopped tomatoes, and chopped kalamata olives.
Finish with a sprinkling of feta cheese, and tons of chopped fresh parsley.
Serve with the dippers of your choice. I chose new to me Triscuit Thins (love), sliced cucumbers, celery stalks, and sliced carrots!
Greek Dip Platter
Serves 2
Ingredients:
6oz plain Greek Yogurt
10oz Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (may not use entire thing)
Toppings:
minced red onion
chopped cucumber
chopped tomato
chopped kalamata olives
feta cheese
chopped fresh parsley
Dippers: Triscuits, pita chips, whole-grain crackers, carrots, celery, cucumber slices
Directions:
Spread Greek yogurt on the bottom of a deep plate. Spread hummus evenly on top. Sprinkle on red onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese and parsley. Serve with dippers.
This dip is IT. Incredibly refreshing, and PACKED with flavor!
Normally I prefer eating crackers or chips with dip, over veggies (especially with salsa – who wants to dip veggies in veggies?!) but the Greek yogurt and hummus made it feel right.
Ok, the Triscuit Thins were really good in here too. 
So obsessed with this recipe – you will love it!
In other news, Ben and I are heading off to the great state of Colorado tomorrow! A friend of ours is getting married out there next weekend (whee! weddings!) so we decided to go out a few days early to spend some time with my brother and other family who live in the area.
I’m hoping to get out for an awesome hike in the Rockies, and maybe fit in a Fort Collins brewery tour on bikes. A couple years ago we did the Coors brewery tour in Golden, CO, and the New Belgium Brewery tour in Ft. Collins (a MUST DO for anyone visiting the area!) but, hello, multi breweries visited via two wheels? FUN! 
Anyways, I’ll be tweeting and facebooking from the road throughout the week, but will also be posting recipes and trip deets here on IGE.
Talk to you from a mile high!
~~~~~
Have you gone/plan on taking any fun summer vacations this year?
I don’t like roasted red peppers or red peppers in general, but that’s my favorite hummus flavor too! Weird!
Love the Greek dip idea; will have to try that for my next party!
I live in Colorado and have a couple suggestions for you…if you do make it to Ft. Collins, the bicycle-brewery tour is awesome! Make sure you stop by the Ft. Collins brewery (it’s down the street from O’Dells). My husband and I just had our wedding reception there last month – great beer and fun food (bacon-wrapped pretzels, yum).
Another place to check out is Centro Latin Kitchen in Boulder. Fantastic drinks and the avocado salsa is to die for. They have a cool happy hour brunch on the weekends, which features small plates at small prices.
Hope you have a good trip!
It looks like great!!!
So your brother and I figured out via instagram that we live two blocks away from eachother! I’ll look for you in the hood!
such a great hot weather recipe! i’ve made a version of this before but it didnt have greek yogurt – like that addition to the mix. def a great way to cool off in this heat wave. it was 114 w heat index in richmond yesterday! :/ ps your pics of this dip are phenomenal!!!!
Your recipe sounds really tasty, and perfect for summer! Have fun in Colorado.
What a great appetizer spread! Plenty of delicious flavors in there
The last couple of summers we have done road trips to the States but this year we’ve decided to stay closer to home but still take a week off and do day trips, maybe some hikes, or a couple days of camping.
You should plant marigolds around your veggies. It keeps the bunnies and other pests away. Apparently they smell like skunk!
so making this dish!! YUM!!! I have a restaurant suggestion for you in Denver if you are looking for a fun weekend brunch
LOLA! It’s fantastic and one of our favorites. Enjoy our beautiful state.
Another fun tour in Boulder is Celestial Seasonings. The mint tea leave room is awesome!
I just did a biking tour around Fort Collins last weekend. So much fun. I recommend Equinox, Fort Collins, O’dells, & New Belgium! They are all pretty close together. New Belgium has a Cocoa Mole beer that reminds me of a chili truffle. Very interesting. Have fun in CO!
Oh my I want some of this now! Love a no heat dish with how hot it’s been recently!
Are you driving to Colorado? If so, while you are on the boring drive through Nebraska, stop at Lasso Espresso in Gothenburg. It is right off the interstate… super cute little espresso place. I worked there as my summer job (a perfect place for a teacher in the “off season”) when I lived in Gothenburg. You can drive-thru, but inside has fun knick-knack stuff to buy.
It is in the perfect spot along the interstate… right between pulling your hair out and stabbing yourself in the eyeballs due to boredom.
LOL! I grew up in Iowa, and moved to Utah when I was 19. Everytime I drove back to Iowa I thought the state of Nebraska would never end! Would have been nice to know a great place to stop!
I went to the Mayan Riviera for a week at the end of May – it was amazing! We stayed on a 5 star resort and went to the ruins at Coba, such a good week!
The dip looks awesome – I’d just need to sub out the kalamatas for black olives…for some reasons, black olives are the only kind I’ll eat.
This recipe looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it out! Going on the Coors brewery tour is on our bucket list, so I’m glad to see that you enjoyed it! Hopefully this will be our next trip
We actually got married about six weeks ago and went to Hawaii on our honeymoon. It was amazing and everything you could hope for. It is so beautiful and relaxing. Pearl Harbor is a must-see. Driving along the road to Hana on Maui is a little scary, but so worth it!
Oh yum! Just a couple more weeks until I will have both fresh tomatoes & cucumbers from the garden… this will be perfect!! Thanks!
That looks delicious! And super easy too! I will definitely have to try that soon.
This looks so yummy!! I’m definately making this! Have fun in Colorado. It’s so beautiful there!
Hi there, new blog follower here. Yum, can’t wait to try this dip recipe! I thought I’d give you my “two cents worth” re: Colorado. I lived in Lyons for a couple years after college and I absolutely, completely, totally recommend trying breakfast/brunch/lunch at Meadow Mountain Cafe in Allenspark! It’s off the beaten path, but not far from Ft. Collins and near Estes Park. In case you have time/definitely pass this along to your brother if he’s never heard of it:
Meadow Mountain Cafe
441 Colorado 7 Business
Allenspark, CO 80510
(303) 747-2541
They’re open 7am-2pm, I believe. The menu is amazing, the owner/staff are some of the best people & Kristin — the cobbler. Oh, the cobbler…I’d probably overnight it to myself if that were an option! Anyway, have a great time!
Oooo have fun in CO! I went to the Veil area in CO last summer, and it was one of the best vacations I’ve been on. The weather and scenery is so gorgeous there during the summer!
I’m heading out to Wyoming (via Denver) for a wedding this weekend too! We plan on stopping in Ft. Collins on our way back down to hit up some of the breweries too. Thank you to everyone who has already made some suggestions for breweries to check out. Much appreciated!
Have a great trip!
I hope you’re planning a trip to Snooze…..i can almost taste the Cinnful pancakes now. Delish. Safe travels!!
I would happily eat this every day for the rest of my life. Fo real!
Love this dip! So great for summer!
Mmm! That looks awesome!
This dip looks fabulous – a must try for me! Have fun on your trip!
Just bought some TJ’s low-fat pita chips…this looks like a fantastic recipe to try them out with!!!
YUM!!! Will try this soon! Thanks for the post!
Oh this is so perfect! We have a church picnic this weekend, and I wanted something nice and cool to bring. Thanks so much for sharing!
What a GREAT idea!!!! Gonna serve this at our next girl night in!!! YUMMMMM!
Hi from Denver! If you guys need suggestions for fun hikes that are not too far from town and that give you the same experience as a 14er without the crazy altitude sickness, Chief Mountain is lovely! And afterwards you can go to Park Burger! Best burgers in Denver, promise. But while you’re in FoCo, check out the tempeh burgers at Avogadro’s Number!
Looks good! I’ve been struggling to be creative about no heat, protein packed summer dinners, this will do!
That dip looks so tasty! Dips are way too easy to eat at bbqs haha. I’m so jealous of your wedding this weekend- I love weddings and haven’t been to many because all my friends are still a bit young haha. I’ll probs be the first to be married
We must be on the same wavelength this week! I made something very similar for a quick dinner the other night. Totally delicious!
I made this last night, minus the olives. I used Wheat Thins to dip with. It’s a very filling easy to make meal. Great idea!!
this looks amazing and so refreshing. I cant wait to give it a try
Have a great trip! I’m on my husband’s case about a trip to CO, I’ve been dying to go for years now! Can’t wait for your recaps.
This Greek platter looks pretty bee’s knees. I can foresee making something similar, modifying it due to my aversion to feta & olives of course.
I can’t help it, I just can’t get myself to like either of them!
My husband & I are leaving for Denver in the morning and are beyond excited! I’m so glad you linked your Denver post today because we have our fingers crossed that we’ll get to hit up a brewery (hopefully New Belgium) and it was great to get to read about your trip! Have fun in Colorado!
This looks amazing! And so easy, win!
I made a single portion of this dip for lunch today. So simple, so delicious and so refreshing in this heat! I’ll definitely be making this again (and again, and again, and again) throughout the summer!
This looks amazing! Hope you have fun in my fun little town of Ft Collins! ;o)
welcome to ft collins! that’s where i live. have fun visiting the breweries- we have some new ones for you to try this time. also, great food trucks have popped up! you will have fun.
I love no heat required recipes in the summer… what a wonderful idea!!!
Haha I HATE roasted red peppers. And I married a Sicilian guy. Woops!
Hey try this one : 1 giant zucchini, sauteed until brown over med high heat with some oil and garlic. Or not sauteed. It probably doesn’t matter. Puree with a bunch of mint leaves (if you’re like me, you didn’t realize it’s a massive weed and are always trying to use it quick so it stops choking the life out of your other herbs) and a cup of greek yogurt. Salt pepper. NOM!
Delish dip.
What did we do before greek yogurt anyway?
1I think I will fix this for our dinner tomorrow night – looks extremely delish! Thanks so much for sharing all of this with us.
I made this for dinner tonight and my husband and I ate almost the whole thing! Thanks for the recipe!
I am really looking forward to trying to veganize this recipe! What a great idea!
I tried this last night. It was so good! Delicious. I used Trader Joe’s Cilantro & Jalapeno Hummus. And you’re right, the Triscuit Thins are really good. Thanks for the recipe!
[...] Iowa Girl Eats posted this dip. It’s amazing. I’m not going to post the recipe because it’s super easy and you should see her pics. They look great. My only thing I did was I pickled the red onions and used regular black olives! Of course. Also, I’m pretty sure we have the same plate-bowls. Served with zucchini and TJ’s RG pita chips! Make this immediately and eat it all the time. It really is perfect for a hot day. [...]