Home Cooking In the Kitchen In the Kitchen:Dip into this deliciousness

In the Kitchen:
Dip into this deliciousness

Photo: Kayleigh Van Vliet Baig

I have come to the realization that I do not write health food blogs and that I prefer to disguise my veggies with cheese and bread. I’m sure there are others who choose the same path in life and I’m sorry to those of you that are looking for your next calorie-free, fat-free, veggie-filled meal because you won’t find it here. Here you will find veggies, but of course accompanied by cheese, and in this case surrounded by bread.

I’m a huge fan of dips and chips but because there are other ways to serve dip, I’m bringing you this recipe. It’s a fun way to share an appetizer if you’re having guests. I’ll save the cheese and crackers for a rainy day and serve this up on wine night. Or it can even make a great accompaniment to any game for game night.

If you’re looking to lighten the fat content, you could go with part-skim cheese and use carrot sticks instead of chips or bread.

Artichoke Spinach Dip Bread Bowl

Ingredients:

1 – 10 oz can artichoke hearts
1 – 8 oz package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
1 – 8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 round or oval loaf of sourdough bread
Hot sauce
Salt
Pepper

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the artichoke hearts from the can and drain the liquid from them in a colander. Squeeze any excess juice from each artichoke heart. Using a knife or food processor rough chop them into small pieces. Place in a large bowl.

• Remove the defrosted spinach from its package. Squeeze any excess liquid from the spinach and add it to the bowl with the chopped artichoke. Add the cream cheese, mozzarella and mayonnaise. Stir well to combine and season with a few dashes of hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

• Use a small serrated knife to cut a hole in the middle of the loaf. Starting on the top of the loaf, cut a wide circle downward, angling the knife slightly toward the center of the loaf. Pull out the cylinder of bread you’ve just cut and cut it into cubes. Remove any excess bread from the hole to make the loaf more ‘bowl-like.’ Cut the excess bread into cubes as well. Toss the bread cubes in a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay the cubes on a small baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

• Fill the bread bowl with the dip. Place on another baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is starting to brown.

• Serve the bread bowl with the crispy bread croutons, crackers or even tortilla chips.