Tasty Tuesday: Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I went to a get-together this past weekend and everyone was supposed to bring a dish.  I've made this spinach and artichoke dip in the past and it always gets rave reviews, so I thought I'd share the recipe here!  There are a few things you can do to make it a little healthier, but if you want to go all out, then by all means, do so!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, partially thawed
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• dash of Worcestershire 
  

Instructions

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Mix in garlic.  Stir in spinach and artichoke hearts.  Cook for approximately 5 minutes.  Mix in cream cheese and sour cream.  Add salt, pepper and Worcestershire to taste.  Cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

It's a super easy recipe that takes very little time to prepare, and it always draws a crowd.  Last night, I made it with neufchatel cheese, which is basically a lower-fat cream cheese.  I also used reduced fat sour cream.  I guess you could do the non-fat versions of both, but I think it's ok to have a little fat :)

After cooking it, I transferred it to my handy little crock-pot and it stayed warm all evening.  If you don't have one of these baby crocs, I HIGHLY recommend getting one.  If you're only cooking for one or two people, it's great for crock-pot meals, but it's also great for keeping dips, etc. warm at a party, like I did this weekend.  I think this is the newer version of what I have:

I like that it not only has low / high settings, but it also has a "keep warm" setting.  Think on it...you won't regret it!