Cocktail Parties versus Dinner Parties
I love spicy crab and spinach dip when I'm at a party! Ok, I should clarify...I LOVE crab and spinach dip! I'm "that person" who stands dangerously close to the dip table at a party, secretly annoyed when someone else comes over and breaks my concentration on THE DIP! This is the best Spicy Crab and Spinach dip I have ever made! Until now I have never had much luck making crab dip. I mean, it always tastes great (how could it not) I just have some memories tied to this dip. My favorite parties are where you have just appetizers. Don't you love to walk around talk to people and have finger foods to eat?
Many years ago, in a different life, we would have dinner parties almost once a week. I'm not sure how I balanced Kids, work, and parties. It was fun cooking all kinds of nice dinners. Then, everyone would arrive, have a few drinks, and maybe an appetizer or two.
Craziest dinner party ever!!!
I tried very hard to NOT have stuffy dinner parties. Usually by serving a few Martinis or Manhattans beforehand and appetizers. My favorite crazy party was when we invited three couples. Yes, we made a crab and spinach dip for the appetizer. We knew everyone from work, well at least one of the spouses from work. What we didn't know was two of the wives did not get along. It was crazy. I remember my closest friend arrived right on time and she asked me "Who else was invited?" I told her and she immediately said I don't care what she says I didn't get my hair colored at that salon.
Oh boy, I should have known not to serve any additional drinks! It was a crazy night. The best part was when my friend got up and started to sing "I feel good uh-huh". Then the two ladies got into a major discussion about whose dog could go the longest without going to the bathroom. Oh, good times!!! (Every few minutes I had to run out to the kitchen to giggle.) Well, that was the last time I served Crab and Spinach dip at a party!!! I know it wasn't the Martinis, Manhattans, and Red Wine!!! It had to be the dip.
New revised Spicy Crab and Spinach Dip
So, I had to revise the dip just because it might have been the problem at that party. We had fun coming up with this recipe and actually cut a ton of calories by using non-fat sour cream, whipped cream cheese, and fresh herbs.
This is a fun dip- we used fresh spinach, green onions, Serrano peppers (our pepper of choice!), and Lemons. We would have used fresh artichokes but canned was a lot easier!!!
This dip takes about 10 minutes to put together and 30 to 40 minutes to bake. We serve it with a loaf of crusty bread, but it would be good with your favorite cracker.
TIPS:
- Serve with Lemon Slices
- Top with chopped Cilantro, Parsley or green onions
- Use Light or non-fat Sour Cream
Do you have any "dinner parties" that you will never forget? Please share your fun dinner party times with us.
Here are a few of our other fun appetizers: Sesame Chicken Wings, Buffalo chicken meatballs, Feta Cheese meatballs, Bacon Cheese Burger meatballs, Cheeseburger meatball pizza knots, Tobacco Popcorn, Cheesy meatball pizza knots, Or one of my favorite Mashed potato Martini Bar
Spicy Crab and Spinach dip
Ingredients
- 6 Ounces Fresh Spinach About 5 cups Or use frozen Spinach
- 2 Cloves Roasted Garlic or 2 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 8 Ounces Lump Crab
- 6 Ounces Artichoke hearts chopped
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper Optional
- ¾ Cup light sour cream
- 4 Ounces Whipped Cream Cheese
- 2 ½ Ounces Monterey Jack Cheese Shredded
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Serrano pepper Optional
- ½ Lemon Juice of ½ Lemon
- 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degreesPrep all the ingredients
- Add Spinach to pan and sauté Lightly salt and pepper spinach.
- Add Roasted Garlic to Cooked Spinach
- Combine crab, artichoke, lemon juice, cream cheese, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, cayenne pepper, serrano pepper, sea salt, grated monterey jack cheese, and cooked spinach. Mix well
- Spray a baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.
- Pour the crab artichoke mixture into the baking dish
- Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on top of Crab Dip
- Bake for 30 minutes. Check and cook for an additional 10 minutes if needed. You can tell this is done when it is bubbling on the sides and golden on top
- Optional. Sprinkle Chopped; Cilantro, Parsley, Spring Onions, and/or Serrano Peppers on top.
- Serve with Chips, crusty bread, or crackers
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