dips Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 14, 2014

Spinach Artichoke Dip

It is football playoff season and you know what that means…appetizers! I have several great recipes for appetizers to share with you this month leading up to Super Bowl weekend. Matt and I have been toughing it out for you the last couple of weekends and have had a few meals of just appetizers so I could share these with you. It’s been real tough… you’re welcome! We are going to start this Superbowl party off with one of my all-time favorite dips, the spinach artichoke dip.

Chips and Spinach Dip

There was a time period that this was one of those appetizers I would always order off a restaurant’s menu. In college, two of our local bars had the most amazing spinach artichokes dips. They both had a cream cheese base with big chunks of artichoke hearts and not too much spinach. Served with either slices of toasted french bread or tortilla chips, I could not get enough of these dips!

I have played around with several recipes over the years trying to recreate the creaminess and thickness that the dip had from those bars. I think I have come really close with this recipe. I have brought this dip to several different parties and it is always gone within minutes.

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip

The best part about this dip (besides the dip itself!) is that it is so easy to put together and it can be done ahead of time. I am one of those people who goes frantic an hour before I am hosting a party so I have learned to serve things I can make ahead. This helps me actually enjoy the party I am throwing. It can be put together the day before and once it is constructed, you just cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it.

When I am making the dip for just Matt and myself, I either make half the recipe or split the dip into two dishes and freeze one. The leftover dip can be reheated and enjoyed again. It is a very forgivable dish. Serve it with tortilla chips, toasted French bread slices, crostini, pita chips, and or veggies. Goooo football teams to be determined and even more so, bring on the appetizers!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

½ cup light sour cream
½ cup light mayonnaise
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 -14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1- 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 -8 oz. packages ⅓ less fat cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl combine sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, pepper, artichokes, spinach, and cream cheese.
Add in 1½ cup of the shredded mozzarella and ¼ cup of the shredded Parmesan to the dip mixture.
Take dip mixture and spread out into an oven-safe 1½-quart casserole pan or baking dish.
Sprinkle with remained mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Serve with tortilla chips, toasted French bread slices, crostini, pita chips, and/or veggies.

Source– Adapted from Cooking Light

sisterk (2)

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 30, 2012

I have been getting a lot of eggplants in our CSA lately and have been trying to think of ways to prepare them. I decided to use up a bunch of them to make a batch of Baba Ghanoush. I was really impressed how it turned out. I make my hummus recipe a lot, but I sometimes get a little tired of it. The Baba Ghanoush has a similar texture, but a bit of a different variation on flavor. I made a big batch of toasted pita chips to serve with it (this dip also goes well served alongside this Mediterranean Dip.)

Baba Ghanoush

Author: m

Recipe type: Appetizer

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 3

Ingredients

1 pounds eggplants (about 3 small or 1 large), pricked all over with fork
1 tablespoon tahini
1 and ½ tsp lemon juice
1 and ½ tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, set eggplant on baking sheet and place in oven. Roast eggplant for 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes. Take eggplant out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
While the eggplant is cooling, place tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, ⅛ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper in a food processor. Once eggplant is cool, trim off the top and bottom of the eggplant. Slice eggplants in half (length-wise) and scoop out the pulp. Transfer pulp to food processor. Process the ingredients until it has the texture you prefer. Season with additional salt and pepper and sprinkle the chopped parsley on top.
For storage, make sure you put plastic wrap flush with the baba ghanoush and store in the fridge. Best consumed that day.

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on July 11, 2012

At my family’s Fourth of July lunch that my sisters and my mom hosted at my parent’s house, we served two dips for appetizers. One of the dips we made was the a Mediterranean Layer Dip with toasted pita chips.

The Mediterranean Dip is similar to those seven layer Mexican dips with the layer of sour cream/cream cheese and taco seasoning, beans, salsa, lettuce, and tomato etc. but instead the layers have more of a Greek flair. The first layer is the classic hummus, followed by basil pesto, cucumbers, red onion, banana peppers, kalamata olives, feta cheese and lastly fresh tomato. Toast up some sliced triangles of pita bread with a touch of olive oil and you have yourself one worthy appetizer.

My mom also brought this to a graduation party to test it out before the party. The dip did not last long and she was tracked down by several of the guest for the recipe. The original recipe calls for sun dried tomatoes but since it tomato season we opted to use some fresh ones from the farmers market. You can use your own recipe for the hummus or pesto but I am linking M’s hummus recipe here.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Mediterranean Dip

Ingredients

Hummus
Basil Pesto
Cucumber, seeded and diced
Red Onion, diced
Banana Pepper, diced
Kalamata Olives, sliced
Crumbled Feta Cheese
Tomatoes, diced

Instructions

Spread a layer of hummus on a platter followed by a layer of pesto. Next sprinkle evenly with cucumber, red onions, banana peppers, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and tomatoes.
To toast pita chips- Cut pitas in triangle slices and place on a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush pitas with olive oil and bake for 5-10 minutes. Turn over pita chips and continue to cook until toasted.

Source– Adapted from Annie’s Eats

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on February 20, 2012

When I was growing up, my mom made this dip for parties or when we had people over. I always loved it and whenever I had to bring some sort of food in college, I would try to bring this baked potato dip. I think I even gave M this baked potato dip recipe on a recipe card for her wedding shower!

What is baked potato dip, you say? No, it’s not a dip with chunks of potato in it. Baked Potato Dip is a creamy sour cream based dip with a little mayonnaise mixed in with crumbled bacon, chopped scallions, and shredded cheddar cheese. Like what you would top a baked potato with! Well except the mayo, but hey, this is a dip! Maybe some people do put mayo on their baked potato in a sort of weird potato salad like way.

Yes so back to my topic here… Baked potato dip. What do you serve with baked potato dip? Easy peasy! This dip is good with veggies like carrot sticks, cucumber slices, broccoli florets, bell pepper slices, snow peas, green beans, and any other vegetable you can think of. Since it is a baked potato dip its also really good with potato chips, and of course the healthier cousin of chips… pretzels.

But K, didn’t you say you were on Weight Watchers? This recipe does not seem that healthy. Jeez we have some inquisitive readers today, don’t we. I can’t get away with anything! Well good question, although the original recipe had regular sour cream, mayo, bacon, and cheese, I used the lesser fat versions of these. I used fat free sour cream, light mayonnaise, turkey bacon, and reduced fat cheddar. You can make your dip which ever way you want to, but let me just say I still found the lighter version amazing! I served mine with baby carrots, cucumber, broccoli, everything pretzel crisp, and baked sea salt kettle chips. Also let me add that I found a chip I am pretty excited about, Kettle Brand Baked Potato Chip. They come in a bunch of flavors like sea salt, sea salt and vinegar, barbecue, and cracked pepper and salt; and better yet they are only 3 PointsPlus for 20 chips! The sea salt ones were a great chip for this dip since they are literally the closest to a potato a chip could get. This dip is so easy to make so what is stopping you?
Baked Potato Dip

Ingredients:
16 oz. Sour Cream (I used fat free)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used Light Mayonnaise)
6 crispy pieces bacon crumbled (I used Turkey Bacon)
4 scallions chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar (I used reduced fat)

Directions:
Mix ingredients together and allow to refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (If you make the dip with what I used, this dip is 3 PointsPlus for 1/4th cup.)

-K