BlogHer - Dip Into Something Nutritious on Superbowl Sunday - Comments

You're welcome!

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:29:00 -0600

That spinach-artichoke-crab dip sounded great!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Thanks for the shout out,

Julie — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:52:27 -0600

Thanks for the shout out, Kalyn!

Julie O'Hara
A Mingling of Tastes

Thanks for the links!

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:06:44 -0600

Fuhl is something I love to order at a Mediterranean restaurant by my house, so thanks for the recipe! Very nutritious for a snack food.

I do like the spinach dip inside a bread bowl. These days I wouldn't add the bread to the dip probably, but I would use low fat sour cream. I don't like fat free sour cream, but I've used the low fat version for years.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

re: double dipping

ejm — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:31:33 -0600

I just saw a link to McGee's article on Serious Eats and was thinking that a way to get people not to double dip might be to put spoons in every dip bowl and suggest that people spoon the dips onto their chips or vegetables.

I love hummus and have never been satisfied with any of the ones we've made. Thanks for posting the links to all those hummus recipes, Kalyn!

Two other favourites are

fuhl (fava beans, olive oil and garlic) with pita
spinach dip in a bread bowl. The inside of the bread is cubed and used to dip into the spinach dip.

Amazingly, I've never made the spinach dip. But one of my friends makes the one that calls for Knorr vegetable soup mix, water chestnuts, frozen spinach, green onions, sour cream and mayonnaise. I'm sure it could be doctored to use fresh ingredients... I believe my friend uses some plain yoghurt in hers. She serves it in a pumpernickle loaf. And if the spinach filling was made with lowfat sourcream, I would think it would fall into the healthful category of dips, wouldn't it?

Here are several recipes for the spinach dip:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,spinach_dip_in_bread_bowl,FF.html

Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen

P.S. And here is our recipe for fuhl

Dip Into Something Nutritious on Superbowl Sunday

Kalyn Denny — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:17:37 -0600

For those in the United States, Superbowl Sunday is the biggest snack food day of the year, and rich, creamy dips are one of the most often-served Superbowl snacks. If you're one of the people who's been following Bloghers Good-Health-a-Thon this month or trying to lose a few pounds, your determination may be seriously tested this weekend. Luckily food bloggers are there for you with more nutritious versions of your favorite dips for that Superbowl party.

Chickpeas are a great recipe ingredient for health conscious dips, and among healthful dip devotees, Hummus is a classic. I think the Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Hummus from Picky Palate looks delicious. (That's Jenny's great photo at the top of this piece.) Mercedes at Desert Candy has a recipe for authentic Hummus that many food bloggers have raved about. Meanwhile, Fiber at 28 Cooks has so many hummus variations she's created a Hummus Hall of Fame. Another chickpea option that sounds good to me is the Red Pepper and Chickpea Dip from French Kitchen in America.

There are plenty of recipes for artichoke dip loaded with mayo, cream cheese, and parmesan. If you'd like something a big lighter, Julie at A Mingling of Tastes has Luxurious Spinach, Artichoke, and King Crab Dip made with lowfat milk and light cream cheese. Another great option for artichoke dip lovers is the Baked Artichoke Dip from 101 Cookbooks, which has tofu and yogurt in place of the mayo and cream cheese.

French Onion Dip is a big favorite with many people, and the Super Bowl Onion Dip at Cooking with Amy sounds like a big improvement over those packaged mixes, and it's vegan too, with tofu being used as the base of the dip. If you like the idea of replacing high-fat ingredients with tofu, another tofu-based dip recipe that sounds great is the Secret Ingredient Herb Dip from Tasting Spoons.

Finally, some dips don't need to be lightened up at all because they're made with healthful ingredients that are packed with nutrients. (Just take it easy on the chips!) Two that have looked especially good to me lately are the colorful Pico de Gallo from Peanut Butter Etouffe and the Healthy Fig and Avocado Salsa from A Gluten-Free Guide.

One final caution for health-conscious dippers this Sunday: No Double Dipping! Famous food scientist Harold McGee writes in his latest New York Times column about a soon-to-be-released study proving that re-using the same chip does indeed spread lots of bacteria.

BlogHer Food Editor Kalyn Denny has been trying to stick to healthy snacks this month, and recently created a diet friendly Ranch-style dip featuring Greek Yogurt and Cottage cheese.