Spinach & Sun Dried Tomato Dip

I love when a recipe does double duty. Like when a perfect roast chicken makes a second appearance in  enchiladas or when pickled red onions are paired one night with a Greek dish and the next night they serve as a pinto beans topping. 

When I came across this Chef in Training recipe and saw that it could be served hot or cold, I knew I would be trying this. We served this as a cold dip one night and earlier in the weekend as a hot spread on crostini. And guess what? It was delicious both ways 

The minimal ingredients in this dip pack major flavor and the result is a dip that is fantastic with crackers, pita and corn chips. And it is equally addictive when spread over bread rounds and baked until hot and golden.

In my book, you can't go wrong when mixing spinach with garlic and sun dried tomatoes and this instance is no different.

A few notes:
- I used reduced fat cream cheese. I think fat free would work just fine as well.
- I used closer to 1/3 cup of the sun dried tomatoes  I also did not drain them, as I thought their oil would just enhance the flavor of the dip.
- I used about 1/2 cup of freshly shaven Parmesan.
- I also increased the amount of garlic to 2 1/2 teaspoons.
- I added about 3/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. 

Spinach & Sun Dried Tomato Dip

1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, softened
1 cup thawed frozen spinach
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. chopped garlic

Mix all ingredients together and serve as desired. You could cut a baguette in slices spread on top and bake, cut a loaf of french bread in half, spread it on and bake, use it as a dip, or a fun idea is to slightly hollow out a loaf of baguette bread and stuff the center with the dip and then slice.