Not Gunna Do It!

While preparing dinner, the other night, I began to reach for my ingredients to make a salad to accompany our main dish. I thought to myself, “Another boring salad? Nope. Not gunna do it!”

I decided to make dinner fun and make Spinach & Artichoke Dip instead of a salad. I say fun because if you have kids, you know, anything that involves chips and dipping, is very exciting! Here’s what I did…

Spinach  &  Artichoke  Dip

THE  PLAYERS:

1  pkg  of  frozen  spinach,  thawed/drained

1  can  artichoke  hearts,  chopped/drained

1  cup  sour  cream  (use  light  if  you’d  like)
4  cloves  minced  garlic

4  oz  cream  cheese,  room  temp  (again,  use  light  if  you’d  prefer)

4  oz  or  1  cup  shredded  Mozzarella  cheese  (I  tend  to  use  more)

2/3  cup  grated  Parmesan  cheese 1/3  cup  finely  chopped  onions

1/2  tsp  black  pepper 1/4  tsp  salt

ACTION:

Preheat  oven  to  350  degrees  F  (175  degrees  C).

Spinach:  I  don’t  usually  buy  my  spinach  chopped,  though  you  can  get  it  already chopped.  I  just  save  myself  the  extra  couple  bucks  and  chop  it  myself.  First,  I thaw/drain  my  spinach  in  the  sink.  Then  transfer  it  to  a  cutting  surface  and  chop.   Artichoke  Hearts:  Drain  before  chopping.  I  don’t  buy  these  quartered,  though you  can  and  that  lessens  the  chopping  time.  Chop  these  up  and  drain,  again, before  adding  to  mixing  bowl. Onions/Garlic:  I  used  a  little  food  processor  to  finely  chop  my  onions  and  garlic together .  Saved  me  time  and  I’m  all  about  that!

I n   a   la r g e   b o w l,   m ix   a ll   in g r e d ie n t s   t o g e t h e r .   I   like   t o   sprinkle   a   little   e x t r a   c h e e s e on  the  top  before  placing  into  the  oven  but  this  does  make  it  extra  cheesy .  If you’re  not  into  that,  just  don’t  do  it.  Place  into  an  oven  safe  dish  and  bake  25  -­  30 minutes.  You  want  all  your  cheese  melted  and  maybe  even  getting  a  little  brown around  the  edges.

Serve  immediately  with  pita  or  tortilla  chips.  Some  even  like  it  with  veggies. Whatever  your  heart  desires.

This is an awesome recipe. A little 1994 but who cares, it’s SO VERY GOOD!!   Bon appetite!

**Please, be aware the image I provided for this is not “fresh out of the oven”. I wasn’t able to grab a pic of it before my family started digging (it’s that good). Therefore, this is an image of leftovers but still TERRIBLY GOOD!