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Advice / Succeeding at Work / Break Room

Chip 'n Dip: The Perfect TV Munchie

I can’t believe the Olympics are almost over. Sniffle. On the plus side, Shark Week does start this weekend, so at least there’ll be something to watch in the week ahead. As I’ll probably spend way too many hours this weekend soaking up as much Olympics as possible anyway, I wanted to create a recipe that would provide ample TV watching sustenance.

My mind immediately went to chips and dip—so perfect for mindless munching! Caramelized onion dip has always been a crowd pleaser, but I wanted to give it a bit of extra oomph, so I added cayenne pepper and celery salt and made sure to leave the onions cooking for almost an hour. It’s amazing how much flavor they’ll get from cooking low and slow! And to lighten things up a bit, I used non-fat Greek yogurt and low-fat cream cheese. You know,

so you can eat more dip!

Caramelized Onion Dip

  • 3 large yellow onions

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • ½ tsp of cayenne pepper (use less if you don’t want to spice things up too much)

  • 1 tsp salt

  • ½ tsp celery salt

  • 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

  • 8 oz room temperature low-fat cream cheese or 1 cup light sour cream (if you have to mix by hand use sour cream)

  • 2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt

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    Start by chopping your onions into small cubes. If you tend to tear up while cutting onions, grab a pair of sunglasses to help with the fumes. Trust me, I cry every time I chop onions—but this really does help.

    Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, then add the onions and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly until onions start to turn translucent.

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    Season with cayenne pepper, celery salt, salt, and pepper, then turn the heat to medium-low and continue to cook for 45 minutes, stirring every few minutes so all of the onions have turned golden brown.  Remove from heat and let cool.

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    In the bowl of a food processor, blend together the Greek yogurt and cream cheese, then add the caramelized onions (set aside a tablespoon of onions for the garnish) and blitz until you reach the desired consistency. If you don’t own a food processor, make sure you use sour cream instead of cream cheese to mix together with the Greek yogurt (it’ll blend easier), then stir in the caramelized onions until everything is thoroughly combined.

    Test out your dip to make sure your seasonings are correct, then serve in a pretty bowl with a pinch of cayenne pepper, and some caramelized onions scattered on top. I always serve this with a bowl of deliciously crunchy kettle chips, but it also works well as a spread on a sandwich or as part of a vegetable platter.

    Note: This recipe should make approximately 3 cups of dip, which will give you plenty for chip ’n dipping with your friends, and maybe even some extra for the next day. It tastes even better after sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours, so the flavors can mingle.