Skinny Vampire Dip

Gentle roasted garlic with artichokes in a creamy, cheesy sauce with a bit of zing and smoke and a sneaky bit of healthy cauliflower to lighten it up, this Vampire Dip is seriously addicting! Because the garlic is roasted, it has a soft mellow garlic scent and flavor, but if you want to make sure your garlic-hater friends still love you afterwards, have a little garlic antidote afterwards: a bit of dark chocolate.

That’s a little trick my foodie sister taught me. I eat a lot of garlic, so yeah, I swear by this little rule. I figure either my friends are too polite to tell me … or it works! Even if it doesn’t work for them, a little dark chocolate after garlic always makes ME feel better.

The story behind this particular recipe has to do with a fear that surfaced one day after several trips to Aldi and Walmart and they were BOTH out of garlic! I started to panic … and I remembered a lot of our garlic comes from California … and oh sh#% … California’s been on fire. What if we’re in a National Garlic SHORTAGE?!???!!! I panicked. I wanted to get my hands on some fresh garlic ASAP.

So the next time I went to Costco, I bought me a BIG bag of fresh garlic. You know, just in case there’s a garlic apocalypse. … And of course, once I had lots of garlic, it started appearing at other stores as well. Oh shoot. Now, what to DO with all of this garlic?

Well, it just so happens we’re having a Dip-Off at work this week. Yes! The perfect opportunity to use up some of this excess garlic. I took 4 heads of garlic and roasted them up to make me a nice roasted garlic dip. I did a little searching and I discovered that yeah, I’m not the first person to think of making a garlicky Vampire Dip. There’s a restaurant chain called Slater’s 50 / 50 that makes Vampire Dip that apparently people just RAVE about … even more so than the 50/50 burgers.

This is my own take on Vampire dip … with a skinny twist, and a bit of sriracha, chipotle and smoked paprika for extra flavor. Plus Greek cream cheese, for extra protein/less fat. You won’t notice the cauliflower in this dip … it sneaks quietly into the cheesy mellow garlic sauce. But your body will thank you for it. And your taste buds will still sing. Because soft roasted garlic with a little zing tingle, a bit of cheese and a nice smoky flavor is seriously a thing to sing about.

Skinny Vampire Dip

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
• Yield: 2 - 3 cups of dip 1x

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Ingredients

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• 2 – 4 heads of garlic
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 4 oz. cauliflower florets
• 1 jar marinated artichoke hearts (juices reserved)
• 4 oz. Greek cream cheese (or Neufchatel)
• 2 Tablespoons of the reserved artichoke marinade
• 2 Tablespoons light mayonnaise
• 3 oz. shredded gouda cheese
• 1 oz. shredded smoked swiss cheddar cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha (or to taste)
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Cut the tops off of the garlic heads and set them on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle the center of each garlic bulb with a little olive oil, then close up the foil tightly to completely enclose the garlic and set it in the oven to roast. Roast the garlic for at least an hour or until it’s completely soft and squishy.
3. Meanwhile either roast or steam the cauliflower until it is very tender.
4. When both are done and the garlic has cooled enough to handle, squeeze the cloves of garlic into a mini food processor. If you want a chunky dip, set a few of the artichoke hearts aside, then add the rest of the artichoke hearts, cooked cauliflower, cream cheese, marinade, and mayo and blend until smooth and creamy.
5. Stir together with shredded cheese in a saucepan. Add salt, spices and Sriracha. Cook until the cheese is fully melted. Season to taste with Sriracha and ground pepper. Serve warm with bread crisps, crackers and/or veggies.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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