James and I are going on vacation next week so I’m trying to clean out my fridge before we go. In the freezer I had a package of frozen spinach and frozen artichoke hearts. The logical line of thinking for me was to combine them into a dip. Little did I know I was about to create one of the best spinach and artichoke dips I’ve ever had. My mom makes a mean artichoke dip, but this is an entirely different combination of flavors that everyone must try.

Here’s the secret ingredient: spinach and artichoke flavored cream cheese. I stopped at the store on the way home since the original recipe calls for regular cream cheese; instead of choosing ol’ fashion regular, the Philadelphia Cream Cheese folks just released this new flavor so I thought, why not?!

Lesson learned: try new things.

Ingredients
Recipe adapted from All Recipes
1 8 oz. package spinach and artichoke flavored cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling on top
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp. dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 package frozen artichoke hearts (canned would work fine, too), drained and chopped
10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 tsp. paprika

Directions
Preheat oven to 350
1. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. 2. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with parmesan, then sprinkle paprika.
4. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

Voila! Serve with warmed pita or pita chips