Coleman Chronicles: Spinach Artichoke Dip

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Well this is a little late for me to recommend it as a Superbowl appetizer, but I thought I'd share a delicious spinach-artichoke dip recipe I discovered! I haven't done many cooking posts, but with a light at the end of the tunnel on the construction of the house, I thought I'd branch out. If you read all the way to the bottom, you'll see that it's actually pretty healthy! (assuming you don't inhale it in one seating, the way that Matt and I did)

Here is the recipe the way I found it (I made a few tweaks which I marked in red)

Yield

Makes 11 servings (serving size: 1/4 cup) (note: 11 servings could also = 2)

Ingredients

2 (6-oz.) packages fresh baby spinach (I actually just used one because that's all I had on hand)
1 tablespoon butter
1 (8-oz.) package 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 (14-oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided (I doubled this - at least - we are big cheese fans. AND, I accidentally used monterey jack instead of mozzarella, so I think next time I would use a combo of the two)
Fresh pita wedges or baked pita chips (we ate this with tortilla chips - but I'm sure it would be good with pita chips as well)

Preparation

1. Microwave spinach in a large, microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 3 minutes or until wilted. Drain spinach well, pressing between paper towels. Chop spinach. I loved that this used fresh spinach instead of the frozen kind. I thought it was so much easier and quicker than trying to squeeze all the water out of the frozen stuff -- my hands always freeze!

2. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add cream cheese and garlic; cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until cream cheese melts. Fold in spinach, artichokes, sour cream, and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese; stir until cheese melts. At this point I also added some garlic salt (maybe 1/8 tsp) and some ground black pepper to taste - I just eyeballed this, so you could season this to your taste.

3. Transfer mixture to a 1-qt. shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. (or monterey jack)

4. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve immediately with fresh pita wedges or baked pita chips. (I turned the broil on for the last 30-60 seconds just to give the cheese a nice browning)

Note: Thoroughly wash bagged spinach before using.