Like the great compromisers we are, we agreed to meld them into one. I agreed, mainly because I had a bundle of spinach in the house and I’m always looking for ways to finish off the bag…but we don’t have to let John in on that secret. The result was this Spinach-Jalapeno dip…which was raved over! It’s another dip that you can make ahead of time, and stick in the oven right before serving. You can hide the veggies for the kids and switching to reduced-fat cheese and cream cheese resulted in less than 150 calories per serving!!
Spinach-Jalapeno Dip
Serves: 12 (about 1/2 cup)
16 ounces of Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons pepper
2 cups spinach, chopped*
1 cup jalapenos, diced
1 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Chips, Celery, and Carrots for serving (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine Neufchatel cheese, milk, garlic, salt, and pepper until well-mixed. Stir in spinach, jalapenos, and 2/3 cups of the cheddar cheese. When it is all well incorporated, transfer the mixture to a casserole dish (I like my 8-inch deep casserole dish for this). Top with remaining 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the top cheese, is melted and bubbling. Serve immediately with accouterments.
*we put 2 whole cups of spinach into our ninja and pulsed it until it was finely chopped (a little less than tooth-sized).
Nutrition Info per serving, based on 12 Servings, from MyFitnessPal.com:
Calories: 133
Fat: 10g
Carbohydrates: 4g
Sodium: 560mg
Protein: 6g
Sugar: 2g
