So, as with most of my recipes, this recipe should really be titled (Here’s What You Do When You Don’t Have The Right Ingredients To Make) Spinach-Artichoke Dip.  The key was finding the “magic” with the standard recipe and making sure I, at least, had the right ingredients to recreate that magic.  It turns out the special flavor in spinach-artichoke dip doesn’t come from the  spinach or artichokes- its the cheeses and raw garlic!  I know this because I tasted along the way and it was pretty blah until there was this big bang of flavor as soon as those items came together.

The actual recipe below is for a pretty spinachy dip.  It turned out to be more flexible this way and I used it as a dip, sandwich spread, inside a hamburger (Jucy Lucy), in an omelete, and as a small, low-carb side dish.  In fact, it’s been almost a week and I still have some left that I’m working through slowly.  I was thinking about stuffing the rest into mushroom caps and baking.  YUM!

Quick Hot Spinach Dip

• 1 bag frozen spinach, defrosted and liquid squeezed out
• 8oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper

Mix up the ingredients and microwave for a few minutes.  Stop and stir about every 30 seconds until it’s mixed well.  It doesn’t really need to be baked like many recipes but it would be nice placed in a ceramic dish, topped with some extra cheese and then broiled for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

I really think the key ingredients are the cream cheese, mayo and garlic.  The recipe above gives the classic taste minus the artichokes.   If you wanted to turn this into the real thing, I would either use half the spinach and add a can of artichoke hearts, coarsly chopped.  I think as long as you have cream cheese, mayo and garlic you can really spin off on some delicious and wild variations.  I was thinking about adding some smoked paprika and chorizo for a Spanish flavor.  Some raw vegetables like onions and celery might add a nice crunch as long as you don’t cook it too long.  It would be tasty cold but you would probably want to add in some sour cream and cut back on cream cheese or else it would be too stiff.

(Not my actual dip, but a re-enactment using paid actors)

The post When life gives you cream cheese… make spinach-artichoke dip appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

Roasted Kale

• A bunch of kale, green or purple washed and dried well
• 1-2T Olive oil
• Salt

Fold each leaf in half along the stem and use a knife to trim the stem off.  Tear into 2-3 inch pieces.  Toss with olive oil and mix well to coat all the leaf pieces.  I’d use about 1-2T per bunch.  Put in the oven at 375F for 7min.  Gently turn the pieces over and bake for another 10-12min.  Sprinkly lightly with sea salt and serve.  The pieces should be very crunchy.  If they’re chewy at all, put them back in the oven.

Now, fire up your favorite movie and enjoy!

While roasting the smell is wonderful, almost like popcorn.  The final result is crunchy with a tiny bit of pleasant bitterness left from the kale.  Some bunches of kale seem to be more or less bitter than others.  If your batch tastes really bitter try it again with kale from a different market.

This recipe might work well with other greens but I’ve not tried any.  I think kale works particularly well because it’s curly and fairly dry so it crisps up nicely in the oven.  Chard might work too.  Some time I might try to  add in some Bragg’s liquid aminos before cooking instead of salting at the end.  That might add a nice flavor.

I’ve still not found a good use for the stems that are left.  I thought about boiling them and adding to vegetable soup but haven’t tried it yet.  If anyone has any good ideas for what to do with the stems, post a comment!

The post Forget popcorn- eat kale! appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

I was in the mood for something like hummus but happened to have some fresh salsa on hand.  I decided to make something that would go along with the salsa and chips (which I didn’t have, but created below.)

Mexican Hummus Dip

• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped coarsely
• 1 lime, juiced and strained
• 1t mexican oregano
• 1/4t cayenne pepper
• 1/2t cumin
• 2T olive oil
• 4T water
• salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in the food processor, except for the water.  Blend until smooth with enough water to make a nice paste.

You might think this just looks like bean dip.  It is similar, but the lime really adds a citrusy kick that you don’t get from ordinary bean dip.  After the tart lime kick fades, the cayenne comes in and spices things up.  I wouldn’t serve this hot because of the lime.  This is something you can, instead, serve cold with chips.  Speaking of chips, I didn’t have any, so I cut up some old brown rice tortillas I had in the fridge, sprayed them with non-stick spray and put them in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes.  They were suprisingly good for having much less fat that regular chips.

Now, this recipe is far from perfect.  If I were to make it again, I might substitute a fresh jalapeno for the cayenne and might add some fresh chopped cilantro into the mix and then sprinkle some on top when serving.  Again, I try to make use of what I have on hand instead of running out and spending $$$ on more ingredients.  If you make this or a variation, let me know by posting a comment.  Enjoy!

More Mexican-inspired recipes

• Flavors of Mexico
• Mexican hummus?
• Pork Adobada

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