Monday, February 6, 2012

Day 12: Spinach and Artichoke Dip



Spinach and artichoke dip has always intimidated me. Mostly, for the longest time I was unaware that I could buy just the artichoke hearts and not have to do all that work getting to them. (Artichokes are very scary when you don't know what you're doing culinarily.) (Apparently, culinarily is a word... well, it is now!) For another thing, most of my adult life was spent avoiding spinach like the plague! To my dissatisfaction, I married a guy who loves it unabashedly! I've been able to avoid it up until this past year. Then, due to us support raising for our Chi Alpha budget and meeting with students in restaurants, he got me to try the dip. I was pleasantly surprised, but I'm still not trying the sweet potatoes or beans!

He asked me to make this dip several times over the years, but like I said, really really intimidated! However, I decided if I could make fancy Disney recipes, I probably should at least try this one. He was overjoyed! He told all his family how awesome I was that I was gonna do this. I was floored by his confidence in my abilities. (See? I'm really not that conceited about my skills!)

I admit, I didn't mess this up! Although, when it first came out of the oven, I had a couple seconds of doubting it tasted anywhere near how it looked! I mean, scroll back up and click that picture to see it all large and stuff! It looked great! Jason was very happy with how it tasted, too! They ate it all! I'm even thinking about making this for the next women's event later this month! (Although, we are supposed to bring a chocolate dish, but maybe I'll just make chocolate-covered bacon, too!)

Ingredients:

1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach (I used fresh baby spinach)
1 1/2 cups thawed, chopped artichoke hearts (I found hearts in the produce section already peeled)
6 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup grated Parmesan (I put 1/3 cup more on top)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Boil spinach and artichoke hearts in 1 cup of water until tender and drain.

2. Discard liquid.

3. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute until hot and soft.

4. Stir in rest of ingredients.

5. Place in medium casserole dish and cover with 1/3 cup more Parmesan.

6. Bake at 350 degrees (F) until the cheese melts. About 5-10 minutes. (I didn't walk away at this point as I was worried I'd burn it!)

7. Serve hot.

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