Spring is here, and with the warm weather comes cookouts, barbecues, and potlucks.

When it comes to bringing food to a party, it’s good to pick something that’s unique, easy to prepare, and tasty to eat.  One recipes that falls into that category and will blow your friends away is spinach dip.

Now if you’ve never had it before, don’t let the name fool you: Yes, spinach dip contains spinach, and no, you don’t typically eat it with Tostitos.  Spinach dip is a combination of sour cream, mayonnaise, spices, and water chestnuts.

It tastes good (in spite of the spinach, some might say), and (in spite of the sour cream and mayonnaise, some might say), it’s still relatively healthy–at least healthier than chips and cheese dip.  Hey, you’re eating it with carrots and celery, right?  That must make it healthy.  So let’s get down to it.

This recipe actually comes straight off the back of the packet of Knorr’s Vegetable Recipe Mix we use.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach (thawed) – $1
• 1 can of water chestnuts, drained and chopped (8 oz.) ~ $0.80
• 1 Cup of mayonnaise
• 16 oz.of sour cream ~ $1.50
• 1 package of vegetable recipe mix ~ $0.50
  
• 2 lb. bag of carrots ~ $2
• A few sticks of celery (as much as you want) ~ $2

The Process:

1. Crank up AC/DC’s Back in Black album.
   
2. Mix your sour cream and mayonnaise in a large bowl (you can use the container you plan to serve the dip in, if you want).
   
3. Stir in your package of vegetable recipe mix.
   
4. Drain and chop your can of water chestnuts.
   
5. Add your water chestnuts to the dip your working on.
   
6. Begin adding and stirring in spinach
   
7. Eventually, your dip will start to look like this:
   
   At this point, the dip is finished. Clean up the bowl a little, if you need to, and let it chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Now, we need something to go with it.  Wheat crackers might work, but consider going for celery sticks and carrots instead.

1. Wash and peel your carrots first, if you bought them whole.
   
2. Cut the carrots into more manageable sizes (cut the fatter sticks in half, if you need to).
   
3. Do the same for the stalks of celery.
4. Put it all into a dip tray, and serve with the chilled dip.

On a hot summer day, ice cold spinach dip is a nice treat that will liven up any party.

Now, this recipe will cost a net total of about $9–not our typical “shoestring” recipe–but it’s a lot cheaper than many of the recipes people make for cookouts and potlucks.

So while this may not be something you’ll make on a regular basis, it is a relatively inexpensive way you can add a little flare to the typical burgers-chips-and-cheese-dip scene we’re all too familiar with during the summer months.  Enjoy!

Filed under: Recipes

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