Last weekend I threw a party at my house for all of our close friends and family. A party meant having a large spread of different types of food. As I was planning and prepping, I did not like that a lot of recipes I was finding were full of heavy, calorie dense ingredients. I want my guests to enjoy themselves, but I also don’t want them to feel guilty about what they are eating. I decided to tweak some of the recipes to put a healthier spin on them. The one that I think turned out the best was the spinach and artichoke dip.
Usually, the ingredient list will look something like this and will run you about 165 calories for 1/12 of the recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach
- 1 1/2 cups thawed, chopped frozen artichoke hearts
- 6 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Talk about a lot of fat and unnecessary calories! To lighten this recipe up, I opted to forgo the sour cream and mayonnaise. Instead I used plain non fat greek yogurt. I also use reduced fat cream cheese to cut back on added fat and calories. In the end this is what my recipe looked like. This one will run you only 97 calories for 1/12 of the recipe:
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Reduced Fat Cream Cheese
- 16 oz Plain Non-fat Greek Yogurt
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- ½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 can Diced Artichoke Hearts (drained and rinsed)
- 10 oz Fresh Chopped Spinach
- 2 garlic cloves diced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Melt first three ingredients in a medium pot over medium heat stirring occasionally. Once it begins to bubble, add artichoke hearts, chopped spinach, garlic and salt and pepper. Stir until spinach is wilted and it begins to bubble again. Your dish is ready to serve! Keep it warm for best consistency! Enjoy!