Blue Cheese and Onion Spread

8 oz Neufchatel cheese

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

½ cup finely chopped onion

½ cup slivered almonds

1 tsp olive oil

½ tsp cracked black pepper

In a small skillet, heat oil over medium/low heat. Add onions and cook down, stirring often for several minutes, until a caramelized golden brown. Set aside to cool. In the same skillet, raise heat to medium and add the almonds. Stir frequently until almonds are lightly toasted.  Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, mixed crumbled Neufchatel cheese and blue cheese. Add caramelized onion, toasted almonds, and black pepper, mixing until well combined.

This spread can be served chilled, at room temp or heated. Great with crusty bread, crackers or crudité.

Optional add in: In a small skillet, fry one slice of center cut bacon until crisp. Remove bacon, but reserve fat in the pan to caramelize the onions. Crumble the cooled bacon and add to the dip, along w/ onions and almonds.

Optional substitution: Substitute chopped walnuts for almonds.

Original recipe 

Oven Roasted Almonds

Old Smoky Bay

2 c raw almonds

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning

1 tsp sea salt

¼ tsp liquid smoke

Honey-Truffle

2 c raw almonds

2 tsp honey

2 tsp truffle-infused oil

1 tsp truffle salt or sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking tray with parchment. In a medium bowl, stir all ingredients and pour over parchment, spreading out evenly. Bake at 5 minute intervals for 15 minutes, stirring in between each interval. Cool before serving or storing in an airtight container.

Buffalo Chicken Dip & Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

Buffalo Chicken Dip

10 oz can chicken breast, drained

8 oz Neufchatel cheese (low fat cream cheese)

8 oz bag shredded mozzarella

½ cup ranch or blue cheese dressing

½ cup buffalo sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix all ingredients until combined. Pour into a 8x8 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot with chips, crusty bread or celery sticks. Can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

3 cups macaroni shells

1 recipe Buffalo Chicken Dip, chilled or mixed, but unbaked

½ cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)

½ cup celery, diced

½ cup onion, diced

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 T butter

Buffalo sauce for drizzle (optional)

Celery Sticks (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small skillet, sauté onion and celery in 1 tsp olive oil for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and set veggies aside. In a small bowl, microwave butter until melted and stir in bread crumbs. Prepare noodles al dente – should yield 6 cups of cooked noodles. Drain and empty into a large bowl. Carefully stir in dip, veggies and blue cheese (if using). Pour into a lasagna pan or deep casserole dish, top with bread crumbs and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until bubbly and bread crumbs are toasted. Serve hot drizzled with buffalo dip and celery sticks, if desired. While I doubt you will have leftovers, they can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

Buffalo dip courtesy of www.tasteofhome.com

Mac and cheese, original recipe

Cilantro Green Chile Chimichurri

½ head garlic, cloves broken apart, unpeeled

2 to 3 roasted serrano or hatch green chiles, about ¾ cup*

1 medium bunch of cilantro, thick bottom stems cut off

1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, thick bottom stems cut off

½ cup olive oil

2 tsp sea salt

Heat a small skillet on medium and add garlic cloves. Roast cloves, turning frequently, for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Carefully squeeze out the roasted garlic from the cloves. Discard the peels.

In a food processor add, cilantro, parsley, olive oil, garlic and salt. Pulse until the mixture is a thick paste. Scrape into a container and refrigerate until serving.

Serve as a condiment. Great with Mexican/Latin American food, on crusty bread, over cream cheese with crackers.

*To roast your own chilies, heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add whole chilies and roast, turning frequently for about 10 minutes until blistered and brown. Remove from heat, allow to cool. Carefully remove and discard skins and stems – can be seeded to lessen the pepper’s spiciness.

Recipe courtesy of www.rickbayless.com