I haven’t posted many appetizers—I’ve always been a bit appetizer challenged. I am much more focused on side dishes, main dish and dessert!
This holiday season, I tried three of Ina Garten’s appetizer recipes from her most recent cookbook, How Easy is That? Two were nothing to write about, but I fell hard for her Blue Cheese Dip—Delicious! Pic uploaded from Ina Garten.
The dip is made with Greek yogurt so it is lighter than many blue cheese dips—most of which are made with a few cups of sour cream. I dipped celery sticks into it. When they were gone, I dipped cucumber slices. I finished up with the carrot sticks 🙂 I think I had a month’s worth of veggies in the three hours leading up to New Year’s Eve! I guess I forgot I could have dipped potato chips in this, too!
I could see thinning out leftover dip and using it as a salad dressing, IF I had any leftovers… 🙂
Blue Cheese Dip
INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup finely chopped shallot
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 7 ounces Greek-style yogurt—I used non-fat because I couldn’t find a whole milk version
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 4 ounces sharp blue cheese, crumbled
- 5 dashes Tabasco sauce—more or less to taste, but I found 5 to be just perfect—OK to substitute prepared horseradish, to taste.
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons of minced chives
DIRECTIONS
- Start two hours in advance—making the night before is also acceptable.
- Place the shallot, garlic, lemon juice, yogurt, mayonnaise, blue cheese, Tabasco, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the processor twelve times, until the mixture is almost smooth but still a bit chunky.
- Add the chives and pulse two or three more times.
- Transfer to a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours to allow the flavors to develop.
- Serve with raw veggies for dipping.
Thank you, Ina! And thank YOU for stopping by my kitchen today! Come by again soon 🙂
