Here are a few things on my guilty pleasures list you probably didn't know about:1. I hate wearing socks. I only wear them in the winter, and even then, I do it very grudgingly. As soon as the weather gets warm, off come the socks and on go the sandals. (Soon, my pretties... soon)
2. I love Glee. Really. And by this, I mean giddy hand-clapping, squeeing, hopping up and down love, love, LOVE it.
3. I'm a sucker for hot spinach and artichoke dip, even though it has a million calories, sky-high fat content and not nearly enough nutritional value to compensate for the above. If I wasn't worried about weighing 500 lbs, I'd probably never eat anything else (okay, I might still eat some chocolate cake or a pulled pork sandwich every once in a while, just to cleanse my palate).
Since Glee is finally back tonight after a far-too-long hiatus, I'm celebrating by indulging in all my guilty pleasures - I'm going to kick off my socks, park my butt on the couch and watch me some Glee with a bowl of Hot Spinach and Artichoke dip to keep me company... and that's that!
This recipe is a little different from the hot spinach and artichoke dip you'd normally find on a restaurant menu, which consists of little more than some mayonnaise, grated cheese, spinach and artichokes. The addition of light cream cheese and mayonnaise perk up the standard mayo base, while some finely minced garlic and green onions are added in for some serious zip.
Also, I add crumbled bacon, because... well... because I can.
If you're morally opposed to bacon you can just as easily leave it out, but I'm a firm believer that bacon really does make just about anything better. Besides, considering how disgustingly bad for you this dip is (and how disgustingly good this dip tastes, which totally justifies the relatively high fat and calorie counts), it's not like taking out the bacon is going to turn it into health food or anything. :)
- Hot Spinach, Artichoke and Bacon! Dip
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 green onions, roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup cream cheese
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Dash hot sauce
- 1 can (12 oz) artichoke hearts, drained
- 1 package (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled into bits
- 1/2 cup shredded marble cheddar cheese
Using a food processor, pulse together garlic and green onions until very finely minced. Add mayonnaise, cream cheese, lemon juice and hot sauce, and process until nearly smooth. Add the artichoke hearts and spinach, and process again until artichokes and spinach are roughly chopped.
Add crumbled bacon and shredded cheese and stir, using a wooden spoon, until mixture is evenly blended (I prefer not to use the processor for this step because the bacon and cheese are already chopped up, and I don't want to pulverize them, but if you'd like a smoother texture, use a few pulses of the processor to combine instead).
Spoon the mixture into a 6-cup gratin dish. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until bubbling hot and melted. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or toasted pita wedges for dipping.
