Blue Cheese Herb Spread

I found this recipe in a small allrecipes magazine (p.16) I received and I just had to try it. I figured with this combination of herbs, cream cheese, and blue cheese, I had nothing to lose. Result? Wow, it was just as I hoped! One of the best cheese ball-type dips I've had. And my three-year-old must take after me in his love of blue cheese because he loved it as much as I did. So this is destined to become a new favorite...

Note: The original recipe calls for 2 Tb. walnuts, which I did not include because my mother is allergic to them and I don't like them.

Blue Cheese Herb Spread

2 Tb. chopped fresh parsley (or 1/2 Tb. dry parsley flakes)
2 Tb. chopped fresh chives
1/2 c. blue cheese, crumbled
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cold

Place parsley and chives in bowl, add blue cheese and mix.

Place cream cheese in bowl of food processor (or small mixer) and process until smooth.

Add herb mixture to cream cheese and process until thoroughly blended.

Noe: Can be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered tightly.

Hummus

Hummus is one of our family's favorites and is particularly inexpensive when I make it myself--especially when I can buy sesame seeds in bulk (for example, at WinCo). I love having my kids get excited over a bean recipe!

First posted over three years ago:

I've really been on a hummus kick lately. There's just something about it that really satisfies me. (And it really does need that tahini, so don't leave it out!)

I found a good recipe for it on About.com and made it by cooking dry garbanzo beans, rather than using the canned variety, as per the recipe. A longer process, yes, but cheaper and more nutritious. And hey, I wanted a large batch, so it was perfect!

One thing that has made me so excited about hummus is that my picky little eater likes it! I have tried so many bean recipes on her and she will have nothing to do with beans. But this "dip" she loves. I love being sneaky...

1 16 oz can chickpeas or garbanzo beans (or cook 2/3 c. dry beans until tender)

1/4 c. liquid from can of chickpeas (or from pot of cooked beans)

3-5 Tb. lemon juice (depending on taste)

1 1/2 Tb. sesame seeds

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp. salt

Crush garlic in garlic press. Let sit for a few minutes. (Reason.)

Heat olive oil in pan on stove top. Add sesame seeds, stir and toast until golden brown. (This is your tahini.)

Drain garbanzos and set aside liquid. 

Pour beans into bowl, pulverize with immersion blender. (Can use regular blender, but it's quite the laborious process.) Add 1/4 cup of liquid from garbanzos as you go--more if needed, until smooth.

Cook garlic on stove top until partly browned, then add to bowl of pulverized garbanzos. 

Combine remaining ingredients, blend until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Taste test and add more of anything it needs.

Enjoy with tortilla chips, crackers, or veggies!

Homemade Spinach (or Chard) Dip

This is a very popular recipe, which I am re-posting here as a Family Favorite, even though it's not liked by all the kids. I recently discovered that it can also be made with fresh chard from the garden, in place of spinach, if desired.

In 2011 I wrote:

Like a lot of people, I love the spinach dip that is made with an envelope of Knorr vegetable soup mix. But a few weeks ago I wasn't surprised, in checking the ingredients, to find monosodium glutamate listed (and not at the end). So, last week I determined to find a recipe to make it from scratch and see how it turned out. It didn't taste exactly like the Knorr mix variety (though the inclusion of MSG I consider cheating; who knows what it really tastes like), but it was quite tasty and we enjoyed it on raw vegetables, tortilla chips, and crackers. (I found the recipe at vivianskvetch.blogspot.com and then made a few modifications.)

SPINACH DIP FROM SCRATCH

1 c. sour cream
10 oz. spinach
1 c. mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced or put through press
1/4 c. onion, finely chopped
1 c. red bell pepper, chopped
4 oz. water chestnuts, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste (I thought it needed at least double this amount)
Freshly-ground pepper to taste
dill weed, to taste
garlic salt, to taste

If you are using fresh spinach, tear off stems (unless it's baby spinach, in which case you can get away with leaving the stems on). Wash and leave some of the water on. Cook until wilted--a couple of minutes on stovetop. If you're using frozen spinach, thaw. Either way, squeeze out excess water and chop. (If using chard, wash, dice, and cook till soft, then cool.)

Mix sour cream and mayonnaise together in bowl. Add garlic, onion, red pepper, water chestnuts, and spices and mix well. Blend spinach into mixture. Chill for a couple of hours.

If you are using a bread bowl, prepare it just before serving so bread won't get soggy. Slice the top off and cut or scoop out inside, leaving walls of reasonable thickness, at least an inch or so. Spoon dip into hollowed-out bread. Cut up leftover bread (from the top and inside) to use for dipping.

If you're not using a bread bowl, serve dip in ordinary bowl with your choice of raw veggies, crackers, tortilla chips, etc.