Creamy Caramelized Onion Dip

This past weekend Michael was planning on heading out of town to visit family so I decided it would be the perfect time to hang out with some of my girlfriends.  It’s a rare event that any more than one or two of us have a free Friday evening so I was particularly impressed that four of us managed to make plans!

Perfect excuse to add to my Twilight Blu-Ray collection and break in my new-to-me 40 inch TV (thanks to my Mama!).

Movie Night!

I emailed the girls asking everyone to bring their favourite movie watching snacks and asked that if they planned on bringing anything unhealthy not to leave me with leftovers!  As always, the snacks did not disappoint!

• Junior Mints
• Twizzlers
• Chocolate Fudge Popcorn
• General Tao Chicken Potato Chips
• Mini Eggs
• Sour Patch Bunnies
• Homemade Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
• Amy’s Organic Pizza (which we never got to)
• Red Pepper Dip with Tortilla Chips
• Chocolate Caramel Cups

Yowza!  Everything in moderation, right?

Of course, I couldn’t possibly host the girls at my place without putting together a homemade snack of my own.  I immediately went to Pinterest for inspiration and decided to make my own version of this Spinach and Caramelized Onion Dip.  Seemed like the perfect combination of creamy, healthy and delicious!

As always I had to take things into my own hands and only used her recipe as a guideline.  As it turns out I think maybe the original poster messed up her recipe quantities anyway because my ratio of onions, etc to yogurt was pretty much perfect and had I gone with the original recipe she called for far less yogurt to veggies.  Anywho, no matter!  Here’s what I came up with…

Creamy Caramelized Onion and Roasted Garlic Yogurt Dip

inspired by Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen

yields approximately 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 container fresh baby spinach (142 grams)
• 1 1/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp Epicure 3 Onion Dip Mix (or a combination of onion powder, chives, and onion flakes)
• 4 cloves roasted garlic (prepared in advance), chopped
• 1 large onion, quartered and sliced very thinly
• 1 tbsp olive or canola oil
• 1 tsp butter
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Steam the fresh spinach until wilted.  Run under cold water to halt cooking process then drain and squeeze by hand.  Press between a couple of paper towels to remove excess moisture.  Chop and set aside.
2. In a large bowl mix together yogurt, mayonnaise, seasoning (including a pinch of salt and pepper), roasted garlic, and chopped spinach.  Use a fork to ensure spinach and garlic are not clumped.  Place mixture in fridge.
3. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and stir to coat.  Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until soft, translucent and starting to brown and caramelize.  If pan becomes too dry use a little water to loosen things up.  When onions are golden brown and soft remove pan from heat and stir in pat of butter.  Let stand a few minutes to cool.
4. Stir onions into creamy mixture.  Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.  Let stand at least 15 minutes or keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

MyFitnessPal tells me this dip is about 110 calories per 1/3 cup serving.  Awesome!  The only big variable would probably be the yogurt you use.  I used 3% so it wouldn’t be too thin (non-fat) or too thick (Greek).

We served our dish with fresh veggies and Nut Thins crackers, but the best bite of the night was when we got creative and used the Chicken Chips for scooping.  Um, holy deeelish. 

After making up a second batch for lunch taking photos I now have dreams of slathering this onto turkey burgers or grilled chicken breasts or even into a toasty garlic buttered bun with sliced beef.  Oh hell yes, I think I know what we’re making for Sunday dinner.  :)

It was the perfect healthy dish to eat up before settling in for Breaking Dawn and a dish or five of sugary treats.  Now if only this Twilight instalment hadn’t been quite so gross, and those friends of mine hadn’t left the leftover candy on my kitchen table.  Evil, pure evil.

{Edited: Just a note that this is definitely an “eat now” dish.  The texture and taste changed as leftovers so I suggest eating it up as soon as you’ve made it.}