The last entry in my January (well, now early February) dip series is a Tex-Mex inspired black bean dip published (a few days late!)  in honor of that big football game, which as you all know was played in Dallas, Texas this year.  We are had a Superbowl party Sunday, and like many of you, we served up lots and lots of unhealthy (yet delicious) tidbits.  This dip, however, injects just a little bit of sense into our day of beer, fried cheese sticks, and mini pizza bagels, while bringing those favorite Tex-Mex spices to the party.  While it’s creamy and delicious, it is also low-fat as you will notice, and is also full of fiber and vegetables…although granted we ate it off of tortilla chips.  It made me feel just a little bit less gross at the end of the day.  This is another one of those recipes that you can throw together from things you have (or SHOULD have) in your pantry for a day such as Sunday, when the store ailes are clogged with confused single men looking for something to serve during the big game.  (My apologies if you are a single man – clearly if you are one who happens to be reading this blog, you are enlightened and do not fall into this category!) 

I modified the recipe from the original in several ways – first, I used a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles, as I wanted to have a spicier bean dip.  If you would rather something with less of a kick, you can certainly use plain tomatoes.  I also added some light cream cheese at the end to give it silky smoothness that I just love in mexican dips.

Spicy Black Bean Dip

Source: Ingrid, via allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2oz (1/4 of an 8oz block) light cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 2-3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Place black beans into a sturdy bowl, and mash! ( This takes a bit of elbow grease – don’t worry about getting the beans too smooth, the texture gives the dip character!)  In a skillet over medium heat coated with cooking spray, saute the onion and minced garlic together until the onions start to turn translucent.  Add mashed beans, frozen corn, tomatoes and chiles, and spices, stirring well, and cook until the mixture starts to thicken.  Add in the cream cheese cut into 2 or 3 chunks for ease of mixing, and the cheddar cheese.  Stir well.  Top with chopped cilantro.  Serve warm with your favorite chips!

As an aside – the leftovers made an AMAZING quesadilla filling.

For some reason, I always found the idea of making guacamole intimidating until fairly recently.  I don’t know what it was, but the idea of peeling and mashing avocado just seemed too difficult.  But, for the 3rd recipe in my January dip series, I wanted to post my favorite guacamole recipe. 

Guacamole is one of those dishes that can be prepared in many ways to suit many tastes – I personally really enjoy the flavor of the avocado, so I try not to overwhelm it with many spices or other strong flavors, such as tomato.  Feel  free though to modify this however you see fit – I’ve tried it with the addition of diced tomato, with bacon, with cumin, and using lemon juice instead of lime.  You can make it spicy or tame.  No matter which modifications you make, it’s important to remember to make the guacamole shortly before you intend to eat it, or else it will develop a brown color like apples or bananas do when cut and then left out.  (Please note, though the color may be significantly less appetizing, it still tastes fine like this.)  Enjoy with chips or your favorite Mexican-inspired dish!

I think perhaps what intimidated me in the past about making guacamole was not knowing how to choose and prepare avocados – I find it nearly impossible to find a perfectly ripe avocado in the grocery store.  If your grocery store is like mine, the avocados are all firm as can be when you pick them up.  The trickiest part of making guacamole then is timing your avocado purchase accordingly.  If all you can find are firm, unripe avocados – place them into a paper bag and wait for a day or two.  Do not refrigerate them, or they stop ripening!  (On the other hand, if you happen to find ripe avocados and want to keep them from spoiling – put them in the fridge to halt the ripening process.)  To retrieve the flesh – slice the avocado in half lengthwise around the sizeable pit in the center.  Twist the halves of the avocado in different directions – this ought to loosen up the pit and allow you to pull one side away.  To remove the pit – there are a lot of different methods out there, but I would say that the safest is to pry it out with a spoon.  Scoop the flesh out of the tough, leathery peel using a tablespoon. 

Guacamole – original recipe by Lisa!

• Flesh of 2 medium sized avocados
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2-3 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro (1 tsp of dried cilantro can be substituted – but the flavor just isn’t the same!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 of a lime
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mash the avocado in a bowl prior to adding any other ingredients.  It’s ok if it’s a little lumpy, that will make your avocado have body and character!  Stir in the minced onion and garlic.  Add olive oil and lime juice, stirring until the texture is even.  Add cilantro and stir well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy!

Today in honor of week 2 of the football playoffs, I am adding another dip recipe to add to my January collection.   I personally love anything buffalo flavored these days – something about the spicy tomato-ey flavor combined with creamy cool cheese that has got me hooked.  I therefore obviously had to include a buffalo chicken dip in my dip montage.  I found this recipe which I ended up modifying from the original a bit  – first, I try not to buy canned chicken, as I find it too salty and too dry - instead, I used one leftover medium-sized cooked chicken breast made the day before.  Second, as with most of my recipes, I made some substitutions to reduce the fat content – namely, used light cream cheese and fat free ranch dressing.  Third, I don’t know about you – but 5 cups of dip as this recipe claims to make is a LOT of dip to make for one party, no matter how awesome the dip (or the party) – so I changed the proportions to make a much more reasonable 2.5 cups. Lastly, I made it at a friend’s house – so instead of dirtying a skillet, I used the microwave to heat it!  This version came out great – it has just the right amount of kick to be enjoyed by all.  For a different flavor, try add blue cheese dressing instead of ranch!

Buffalo Chicken Dip – adapted from allrecipes.com, Nunpunch

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• 8oz package light cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup fat free Ranch dressing
• 1/3 cup hot sauce (such as Frank’s)
• 3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used a combination of swiss and cheddar)
• 1 bunch of celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
• crackers

Directions:

Stir together chicken, cream cheese, ranch dressing, cheese, and pepper sauce in a microwave-safe container.  Place into microwave.  Microwave for 1 minute at a time, stirring in between, until the dip reaches your desired temperature and consistency.  Enjoy with celery and crackers.  And football, if you are so inclined.

New year, new house, new recipes!  My husband and I moved last month – as an aside, I now know why so few people opt to move in December – between the closing, the packing, the moving out and the moving in, and the holidays, I needed a few weeks to recover!  We’re now settled comfortably into our new home, and I finally have time to cook again. 

Now that football playoffs are upon us, it’s that time of year where one needs an arsenal of appetizer recipes to have on hand for the boys.  Frankly, even if you’re not going to be watching the playoffs (sorry to the Eagles, Colts, Saints & Chiefs fans out there), winter is a great season to find a warm afternoon snack to have around for entertaining.  My January series of posts will involve a number of tasty, easy & economical hot appetizer dips to prepare for your upcoming football festivities…or any other upcoming events you may have that are not related to sports. 

In my opinion, there are few appetizers more enjoyed than a nice warm Spinach & Artichoke dip, accompanied by some crispy crostini.  A few years ago, my co-blogger Beth posted a similar recipe as part of her homage to Superbowl Snacks - I made this slightly different recipe during the holidays this year, and it was both so easy and received such rave reviews that I promptly decided it is a definite keeper.  I served this with homemade crostini (really just a fancy word for toast) which I made myself by toasting thin slices of sourdough baguette.  It also is fantastic with tortilla chips or potato chips…and if you’re feeling especially healthy for your New Year’s resolution, it would also taste good with fresh vegetables too.  Like Beth’s, it has the distinct advantage that you can prepare it in advance – right through the final step of topping with mozarella and baking – which may make your Sunday afternoons more fun over the next few weeks if you are going to be watching the boys party for a few weeks, like me. 

PS – it also involves the ever useful frozen spinach! 

Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip – from Tiffany Brennan via allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package light cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. (Unless you are making it in advance – then no need right now!)  Blend together the cream cheese, mayo, parmesan cheese, garlic, basil and salt.  Stir until well combined.  Gently fold in the artichoke hearts and spinach.  (If preparing in advance – stop here!)  Place into an oven-safe small baking dish.  Top with mozarella cheese, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

To make crostini:  Slice a baguette (I used a sourdough baguette) into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Place slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Toast at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.  Call them crostini, and everyone will think you are about to win the next Iron Chef.

This fruit dip was so easy to make! It was a fun, tasty addition to my simple fruit platter. The dip was a little thicker than I would have preferred, but that didn’t stop us from eating it all!

I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com, but made some modifications. I halved the original recipe and tweaked some measurements. Even with the reduced measurements, I still had more than enough dip for the four of us. I used more cream cheese that called for, and added some confectioner’s sugar to make the dip a little sweeter. Based upon reviewer information, I made the dip the night before and allowed it to chill overnight. As the dip chilled, the sweetness became more pronounced and the dip thickened up a bit.

Creamy Fruit Dip

4 oz. fat free cream cheese
4 oz. reduced fat whipped topping
4 oz. marshmallow cream
2 tbsp. confectioner’s sugar

1. Combine the first three ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat together until smooth.
2. Add confectioner’s sugar as desired to attain desired sweetness.
3. Refrigerate in a covered container.

My husband and I are big fans of salsa. He’s been known to eat it by the spoonful, and his college roommates like to tease him about a time he ate an entire jar in one sitting. Needless to say, it’s hard to keep enough of it in the house.

This recipe for homemade salsa from Annie’s Eats is delicious and easy to make. With minimal effort, you can create flavorful, restaurant-style salsa at home. Using the food processor simplifies prep work, as you only need to rough chop the vegetables before processing them. I’m also submitting this post to the Tasty Tools: Food Processor blogging event hosted by Joelen’s Culinary Adventures.

My food processor is pretty small, so I had to work on this recipe in two separate batches. I processed the first 8 ingredients, and then removed half of the pureed mixture from the work bowl. Next, I added half of the fresh vegetable and herbs to the food processor, pulsing as instructed. Once the first batch was done, I moved onto the second.

The only jalapenos I could find were on the larger side, so I only used one. Next time, I’ll probably add about 50% more to increase the heat a bit. I opted to drain the diced tomatoes to prevent the salsa from becoming too watery.

The resulting homemade salsa isn’t chunky, but it has noticeable bits of vegetables. It’s is fresh and spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. After serving this to company last night, we have plenty of tasty salsa left over. It’s out mission to finish consuming the batch this week!

My Favorite Salsa
from Annie’s Eats

Yields 4 cups

2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and very coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, halved
juice of one lime
1 (28 0z.) can diced tomatoes (drained or not, depending on how much liquid you want in your salsa)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes
1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all other ingredients to the food processor. Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it does not take many pulses so don?t overdo it). Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.