Deceivingly Delicious Spinach Artichoke Dip

You dip, I dip, we dip

Healthy and delicious are adjectives normally unrelated to dip.

Nevertheless, those are two ambitious claims for a Spinach and Artichoke dip recipe I’ve been holding on to from Cooking Light magazine. Recently I had the chance to test this for myself, needing an appetizer to bring to a party.

Not wanting to be completely guilt-free (what fun is that) I weaved parts of the Cooking Light recipe with another I have from a friend of my mom’s. Her recipe is marvelous but includes copious amounts of butter and cream. Continuously cooking like Paula Deen is hard on the arteries.

Aiming for a happy medium, the final result is deceivingly good without the feeling you should compensate by running three miles.

This dip and Da Dip playing in the background is a surefire way to get any party started. When I dip, you dip, we dip….

Deceivingly Delicious Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients
1 T. unsalted butter
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10 oz. bag of fresh spinach
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened (a small tub)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened (half a small tub)
1/2 c. sour cream (or reduced fat sour cream)
1 – 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese, shredded (or use mozzarella)
2 t. seasoned salt
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
1 T. Tabasco sauce
6 T. Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a non-stick pan, saute the onion and garlic in the butter over medium high heat. Add in the spinach and saute until wilted. Once cooked through, set the mixture aside.

In a large mixing bowl, smash the softened reduced fat cream cheese and cream cheese together with a potato masher, then add in the sour cream. Once combined, stir in the artichoke hearts, pepper jack cheese, seasoned salt, black pepper, Tabasco sauce, 3 T. of Parmesan cheese and spinach mixture.

Pour the dip into a baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 3 T. of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the dip is bubbly. Cool slightly before serving with tortilla chips, crostini or cut vegetables. If the dip is too thick for your preference, thin it out with chicken stock.

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