Baked Feta with Onion and Olives

My friend is on a quest for a progressive dinner appetizer so I threw out this one. It is simple, good and does not require spending exorbitant amounts of money on out of season produce. I think I got it from Bon Appetit but when I checked www.epicurious.com it did not come up. It must have been from the R.S.V.P. column of restaurant recipes.

Baked Feta with Onion and Olives

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

16 ounces feta cheese, cut horizontally in half to make four ½ inch thick squares
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise
Crusty French bread slices
Fresh dill sprigs

Preheat oven to 450. Blend vinegar, olive oil, and toasted caraway seeds in blender. Season vinaigrette to taste with salt and pepper.

Coat nonstick rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Place cheese on prepared baking sheet. Bake until heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove cheese from oven, Preheat broiler. Broil cheese until crusty and golden brown, about 5 minutes

Spoon vinaigrette onto platter; place cheese atop vinaigrette. Sprinkle with onion and olives. Surround with bread slices; garish with dill and serve.

Serves 6-8

My Notes:

Whisk the vinaigrette together, don’t bother hauling out the blender. The feta can be baked and broiled in a toaster oven. I coarsely chop the olives and skip the dill garnish.