Craving Ellie- Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip

This week's Craving Ellie recipe was chosen by one of my favorite bloggers, Cathy, who blogs over at The Tortefeasor. Cathy cracks me up. Every single time I go and read her posts, I am seriously laughing. She is so fun and I really enjoyed her pick, Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip. I know that most Ellies made this one for the Superbowl, but we don't watch it and I came down with the flu this weekend. I have been sleeping, taking advil and tylenol, coughing and sleeping some more for the past 5-6 days. Yuck!
But, I still wanted to make this dip, so one day, I drugged up and set to it. Because it was a fairly easy recipe, I didn't feel too horrible after throwing it together and the results at the dinner table were lots of happy faces. We served it with tortilla chips (kind of ruins the whole healthy thing) and carrots & celery sticks. Everyone loved it and it tasted so good and was so easy, that I am sure I will make it again. Hopefully this flu bug will be gone by the beginning of next week, but I will apologize now for the lack of comments I have made. Sitting in front of the computer is not easy for me when I feel like this.
Go and see what the other Ellies thought about this yummy dip, by checking out the Craving Ellie Blogroll!

Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip by Ellie Krieger
Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 cloves garlic
1 (9-ounce) package artichoke hearts, defrosted, rinsed and dried
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted, excess liquid squeezed out.
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup (4 ounces) Neufchatel cheese (reduced-fat cream cheese)
2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until onions are light golden but not browned. Remove from heat and cool.
In the bowl of a food processor combine artichoke hearts, spinach, sour cream, mayonnaise, Neufchatel, mozzarella and salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Add cooled onion-garlic mixture to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
Transfer mixture into an 8-inch glass square baking dish or 9-inch glass pie plate which has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve with pita wedges or crudites

Coming Sometime Soon (Hopefully when the flu is gone) Cranberry-Zucchini Muffins and a Barley-Tofu Salad with a Greek Twist