Carol’s Artichoke Dip

Simply Recipes has some cool tweaks to this easy dipOkay, so it’s not her invention but our mom (a.k.a. Carol) isn’t allowed to throw a party without having this dip as an appetizer. That’s how much it’s beloved by friends and family. Fortunately for her, it’s the easiest recipe under the sun — 4 ingredients that  are easy to have on hand. Plus, our sister Becca gave us lots of tips on how to tweak it.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup mayo
  • 1 cup Kraft® parmesan cheese
  • 1 can of artichoke hearts
  • Garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350˚. Drain the water out of the can of artichoke hearts and then chop them up. Combine with the mayo and the parmesan cheese. Then garlic salt to taste. Transfer to a baking dish, preferably one that is attractive so that you can serve it in the same dish. Bake for 30 minutes until it’s golden brown on top. Serve with Triscuits®. Other crackers work but these ones are thick enough to hold the dip and are the perfect combination.

Now, on to tweaking the recipe. I will start with what not to do. Don’t use light mayo or light anything in it. It isn’t the same and nobody will like it even if they tell you it’s good. And for the record, how you know something is actually delicious is when you have virtually no leftovers. If you’re always packing up a ton of food after a party or a dinner party, it’s a clue that people were just being polite when they said everything was delicious. Organics and Classic Freedoms are notorious for doling out compliments just to make you feel good. But just in case any of my friends are reading this, my compliments are always sincere.

What to do … Becca put some baby spinach in it for her winter holiday party last year and it was delicious. (Katie had NO idea there was spinach in there and ate half of the dip for dinner. Seriously she’s a bit of a pig that way.) Another way to tweak it might be some jalapeno’s to give it a kick. Our photo is from Simply Recipes and they had some cool ideas of their own — endives, sliced french baguette. But, their suggestion to microwave? Ignore. The golden brown top is part of the allure. And if you can’t figure out how to double this recipe then you need to be catering all of your parties.