Festive Dips

Serve these delicious dips side-by-side for red and green party hors d’oeuvres!

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 7-ounce jar roasted red sweet peppers

-1 teaspoon vinegar

-¼ teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning

-¼ teaspoon garlic powder

-⅓ cup sour cream

-2 teaspoons snipped fresh cilantro or parsley

-Assorted vegetables from your free list to dip!

DIRECTIONS:

  • Drain roasted peppers. Chop and set aside 2 tablespoons of the roasted peppers. In a food processor bowl or blender container combine remaining roasted peppers, vinegar, lemon-pepper seasoning and garlic powder. Cover and process or blend until mixture is smooth, scraping sides as necessary. Stir in sour cream, reserved roasted peppers and 1 teaspoon of the cilantro or parsley.

  • Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining cilantro on top. Serve immediately (or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours). Serve with vegetables.

Makes 5 (¼-cup) servings.

*Count each serving as 1 restricted vegetable and 1 fat.

Roasted Garlic-Spinach Dip

INGREDIENTS:

-1 whole head garlic

-1 teaspoon olive oil

-1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach

-¼ cup milk

-Dash bottled hot pepper sauce

-1 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut up

-Chopped tomato (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

  • Peel away outer dry leaves from head of garlic, leaving skin of garlic cloves intact. Cut off pointed top portion of head (about ¼ inch) with a knife, leaving the bulb intact. Place on a double-thick, 12-inch square of foil. Drizzle garlic with the oil. Fold foil to enclose garlic. Bake in a 375ºF oven for 20 minutes or until garlic is soft. Cool.

  • Cook spinach according to package directions, except omit salt. Drain well; press out excess liquid.

  • Squeeze pulp from garlic cloves into food processor bowl, discarding skins. Add the drained spinach, milk, hot pepper sauce, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cover and process until well combined. Add cream cheese. Cover; process until nearly smooth.

  • Transfer mixture to saucepan. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until heated through.

To serve, transfer to serving bowl. If desired, sprinkle with tomato.

Serve with vegetables. One serving = 3 tablespoons.

*Count each serving as 2 fats.

Appetizers and Snacks