Recipe: Festive Cream Cheese with Radish, Dill, and Lemon

I made this recipe over the weekend, based on my recipe for Radish and Chive Dip, which may be one of my favorite recipes of 2020. This version is fully loaded with radishes, dill, and lemon zest to create perfect speckles of red, yellow, and green throughout the dip, making it a very festive base for holiday toasts and bagel spreads. The flavors of herbs, radishes, and lemon zest work so well with a variety of toppings: try this with smoked salmon, tomato toast, cucumber toast, or top with pretty watermelon radishes for some fun, festive appetizers this season. You could also use this spread as a deluxe dip for chips or crudité (which is a fancy word for a veggie platter). This dip is super versatile and super delicious, and I hope it makes it into your holiday rotation this year!

I love adding radishes to dips, as they add that bit of horse-radish flavor that is delightful addition to sandwiches as spreads, but a bit too aggressive for me when they are present in full force in raw radish form. When shredded finely into the base with a microplane grater, they create beautiful red/pink specks in the final spread that I think is so pretty, and their flavor works seamlessly with any sandwich topping, from deli meats to veggies.

The recipe that I made below makes a lot, so it’s good to go with any holiday entertaining events in mind. This also stores well in the fridge, so it’s great for leftovers or set to prep ahead of time for easier party planning. The dip itself comes together in about 10 minutes, making it a quick and easy way to make the holidays (or any day!) a little more special.

Recipe down below, photos down below and up top!

Festive Cream Cheese with Radish, Dill, and Lemon:

Ingredients:

½ cup of dill, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
10 radishes, grated
½ tsp salt
8 oz cream cheese

Method:

Using a microplane grater, grate the radishes finely and add to a large bowl. Add chopped dill and freshly grated lemon zest to the bowl with the radishes.
Add cream cheese and salt to the bowl with the radishes, dill, and lemon zest. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Use spread to top any festive toasts or bagels or as a dip for veggies or chips. Enjoy!