Spinach-Artichoke Dip

In the honor of the start of football season I figured it was time to learn how to make some healthy "comfort food" snacks. This is a fantastic recipe. It preserves all the rich taste and creamy goodness of the original, is simple to prepare, keeps as leftovers, and is nearly fat-free. That's right - I said it is nearly fat-free despite typically being one of the no-nos of snacking at bars.

Keep in mind, however, that even if we cut out the fat there are always hidden dangers. For instance, no matter how healthy you make the dip if you then dig in with full-fat, caloric, and salty chips you're piling on the damage still. Look for low-salt chips that reduce their calorie dent. Baked chips are the best but if you're not a big fan I have found that the white corn circular chips by Tostitos are far lower than the rest of their brand. Check them out! In the end, however, it's about moderation. So make this dish when you're watching football but make sure not to down it all yourself... at least, hold off until it's really needed such as your team losing by a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip
There are many ways to vary this classic, but I went for a straightforward version this time around. You'll see that I do not have a lot to add here since the entire recipe is about 2 seconds long. But it's good.

I substituted all fat free cream cheese instead of using any 1/3 fat and still had excellent results. I also went for the softer cream cheese sold in tubs rather than the blocks. This was simply a personal preference to aid with mixing but it worked out much better than when I used the harder stuff in the past. I also chose to use more spinach than the recipe calls for. Since this is one of the redeeming qualities of the dip, and a delicious one at that, why not emphasize it? I used the entire 10 oz package and my dip was certainly not overly spinach-y at the end.

Feel free to experiment with this a bit! Add more black pepper for a stronger oomph to the recipe or leave it alone if that's not your thing. This is a recipe where experimentation is easy and rarely wrong - have fun with it and then root for the Eagles. (Or, you know, your team of choice of course.... but spinach IS green, I'm just saying.)

Servings: 16
Serving size: about 1/2 to 3/4 a cup
Nutrition: calories 90; fat 1.7g; carbs 8g; cholesterol 12.6mg; sodium 424mg; iron 4.2mg