Sunday, April 7, 2013

Sunday Recipe- Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip (lower than normal fat)

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! I had my very first 8K yesterday and then spent the afternoon in Winston-Salem at my sister's house! We played with Rusty in her HUGE fenced backyard, which Rusty loved, and then did some shopping at Hanes Mall.  I got some new running tanks/ tops, some new cute sandals for spring/summer, a new dress, and some yoga pants. Of course those were all must-have purchases :)

Well, it's Sunday again and we all know what that means! This week's recipe is a healthier version of the oh-so-popular Spinach Artichoke Dip. I mean, don't get me wrong, this is definitely not a healthy dip/side but healthier than the stuff you get at restaurants.  I originally found this recipe June 2010 on Recipezaar when I was looking to add a course to my Italian dinners I make every summer when my aunt and her family come visit my house for the weekend. I'm not going to lie, this recipe is not the quickest prep but after many trials and errors it now turns out great! The prep is the most time-consuming but once you have everything together, all you do is bake it and its ready to go!

I added my own variations to the recipe too (more spinach, less cheese, more artichokes!) after making it the first time since my rule is always follow a recipe exactly the first time and then make your own variations the next times. HERE is the recipe that I found back in 2010 and have used since: Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip (lower than normal fat)

 

NewImage

 

 

Here are my personal tips from making this delicious dip for my friends and family:

  • I use almost double the spinach and artichokes since I like it more veggies than the cheese part.
  • If you use less sour cream, the dip tastes so heavy so I always add a little more-- the equivalent of 2 small containers from the grocery (I think 16oz total).
  • For added flavor, I get the seasoned, marinated artichoke hearts.  The extra seasonings from the oil taste AMAZING in the dip.  If you can't find marinated artichoke hearts (I get mine from Aldi), then add some Italian seasoning before mixing all the ingredients together.
  • I use probably ½ to ¾ head of Garlic.  Everyone in my family is a big fan of garlic so I use a microplane and grate all the garlic cloves into my mixing bowl.
  • I don't use the onion power and it still tastes great!
  • I use half the amount of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese in the mixture and then i use the rest on the top to make a nice little crust when baking the dip.
  • Don't microwave this, it tastes so much better baked!! Broil the last few minutes to get the nice crust on the top.
  • Finally, I finely dice tomatoes and sprinkle over the top of the dip after it comes out of the oven!
  • I serve with toasted baguette slices as an appetizer.

DSC02819

Here's the italian meal (baked ziti, eggplant lasagna, salad, garlic bread, bruschetta, spinach artichoke dip) I prepared when my family did Christmas at my house in 2010.  You can see what's left of the Spinach Artichoke Dip on the top right portion of this picture :)

 

Which restaurant is your favorite Spinach Artichoke Dip? Have you ever tried making it at home?? What is your favorite Italian dish?


8D6BDBB5BFAE5AD77387576407CCDABC


No comments:

Post a Comment

10K 13.1 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2022 30 Day Shred 32 5K 80s 8K 90210 90s ACC Basketball AGD Aladdin alcohol alias Alpha Gamma Delta Amazon Amy Amy Poehler Animal Kingdom Ann Taylor apple apple juice April Art of Animation artichokes Asian Aziz Ansari baa babies Backstreet Boys baking banana Bar Exam BCBG beach beauty bed berry beverage bff BFFs birthdays black Black Honey Blacksburg blog hiatus bloggers blogging blogs blue Brave Britney Spears Broccoli brothers Brown Burn Boot Camp Cabernet Sauvignon Cafe Carolina Calvin Harris Calvin Klein Canada cancer candles cardigan Carly Rae Jepson casual friday Center City Park Chanel changes Cheese Cher chex Clinique Clinque clothes Clueless cocoa butter coffee college cookies cooking coral corn cousins Crunches culture clash cupcakes Daddy dairy danville dates David Yurman dessert desserts detroit Detroit in Training diamonds diets Disney Disney Princess DISNEY WORLD disordered eating doctors Dogs Donnie Wahlberg downtown Downtown Disney drink driving DSW Eminem engagement Epcot espresso Esquire Este Lauder ethics exercise exhaustion Expo eyeliner fall family family law farmer's market Fat Joe Father's Day favorites finals flowers flying food foot Football Founder's Day Franco Sarto French Friday Friday Favorites friends fruit fruits Full House Garmin gatorade Gilmore Girls girl crush goals goldfish grandma Grandpas Greek Greensboro grey Gu hair half marathon happieness Hawaii health heartache henna hilarious Hinduism Hokies Hollywood Studios Homeland humor ice cream Indian Indian food injury insomnia iTunes Ja Rule Jasmine JayZ jcp jeopardy Jerry McGuire Jillian Michaels Jimmy Fallon JLo jobs John Legend John Stamos June Justin Timberlake Kanye Kanye West Kasper Kelly Kelly Clarkson Kelly Kapoor Kelly Rowland Kid Cudi KT Tape La Roux lace Lady Antebellum lady gaga law school Legally Blonde Leo Leonardo Dicaprio Leslie Knope LIEP life link up lip balm local businesses LOFT loneliness Lorelai Gilmore Lost love Lucy Ludacris Luna Bar Macados Macy's Magic Kingdom makeup Malbec mango March Mariah Carey maroon Marshalls Maryland mascara Maui May medals Mexican Michael Scott Milania milkshakes Mindy Mindy Kailing Missoni moisturizer moms Month in Review mornings Mother's Day motivation music Myrtle Beach nachos nail polish National Running Day NC Nelly Nemo Netflix new friends New Jersey New Years Nick Carter Nike Nike+ Nine West NJ NKOTBSB North Carolina NY and Co. NYC Old Navy Olivia Pope OOTD OPI orange outfits packing Pandora Panera ParksNRec party Pearls perfume pie piedmont triad pink Pioneer Woman pizza plants Playlist Wednesday polka dots potatoes potpourri PR Princesses Product Review progress PTI Puerto Rico pugs pupcakes puppies puppies and booze purple race shopping races racing rain Raleigh random recipes red red wine relationships RHOA RHONJ rides Rihanna Ripped in 30 run runDisney running Rusty sad sarcasm saris SATC SBS sbsmeetup SBTB Scandal Sephora September shoes shopping siblings sick sickness single sisterhood sisters skirt suit sleep snacks Snow Sorority soup South South Carolina South Indian souvenirs SparkleSkirts spinach Spring spring break Sprite studying success Suits Summer summertime sun Sunday Recipe support surprise Tahari tapering Target teal tequilla teryaki thanksgiving The Good Wife The Hills The Lion King The Little Mermaid The OC The Office TI Tim Gunn Tina Tina Fey Tinderella Titanic Tom Haverford tourists traditions training training plan travel treat yo self Tresemme trips Tuesday Thoughts tv TV shows Usher vegetarian Virginia Tech virus vodka Walt Disney World wasabi wear to work wedding wedding dresses weddings weight loss wellness WHBM white wine wino words to live by work workouts WTP