Recipe Review: Hot-Stuff Spinach Artichoke Dip

I love dips. Especially dips with cheese. Lauren and I used to be obsessed with the spinach artichoke dip at California Pizza Kitchen, which was the only place we knew of to get it in Hong Kong at the time. Luckily, I've found a recipe that's easy, and easy on the waistline!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans (14 oz each) water-packed artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and thinly sliced

1 bunch fresh spinach or baby spinach (about 5oz), coarsely chopped

8 oz 1/3-less-fat Neufchatel cream cheese (or just light cream cheese is fine), at room temperature

1 cup light mayonnaise*

1/3 cup (about 2ox) grated Parmesan cheese

1 large baguette, cut on the diagonal into 1/2-inch thick slices and toasted

Adjust one oven rack to the upper-middle position and keep one rack at the middle position. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat an 8" baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is sticky and golden brown, about 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the artichoke hearts and a few cups of the spinach, turning the mixture over until the spinach leaves wilt. Add the remaining spinach and continue to cook until all the leaves are wilted, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Stir the cream cheese, mayonnaise* and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan together in a large bowl until creamy. Add the cooled spinach mixture and stir to combine. Scrape the mixture into the baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until the Parmesan is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Serve with the toasted baguette slices** and a clear conscience!

Serves 12.

*Confession: I actually totally forgot to buy mayonnaise for this recipe, and ended up just stirring in some unsweetened almond milk to get the right creamy texture. I'm pretty sure that cut the calories even further, and it still tasted great!

**Or tortilla chips

Overall this recipe was super easy. The only major prep was remembering to take the cream cheese out so it wasn't rock hard, and chopping up the artichoke hearts, spinach, and onion. I'm definitely going to be pulling out this recipe next Superbowl!

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Recipe from Candice Kumai's Pretty Delicious

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