I opened the pantry. Not cereal. Not a Nutri-grain bar. No nuts, tortilla chips or granola bars. Yuck, yuck and yuck.
I opened the baking cupboard. Hershey's chocolate bars, marshmallows and graham crackers... nope. M&M's for baking? Huh-uh. Yuck. A dry white cake mix would be yummy (yes I really do love to snake on white cake mix) but nope - we don't have any.
Then I spied it; artichokes! And more than anything... I had to have artichokes. I emptied a can of artichoke hearts into a bowl, added a heavy dose of homemade Italian dressing and then diced half a red pepper into it. YUM! I would have loved to make a real antipasto salad out of it, but again, it was 9:00 at night and I had the munchies. This would do.
When it comes to bell peppers, artichokes, gouda cheese, tomatoes and garlic... I'm game. Anytime. I will also always choose these foods over sweets or fruit or chocolate... (obviously since I bypassed all of the above last night!) LOL.
So this dip is sounding MIGHTY GOOD right now - at 9:00 in the morning. And yes, I regularly do eat leftover dips and garlic breads for breakfast if and when I have it. LOL.
Cheesy Artichoke Spread for French Bread or Baguettes
3/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup smoked Gouda cheese, softened 1/2 tsp. basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, diced and seeded
1 small red onion, diced
3 red bell peppers, roasted, skinned and diced
1/4 to 1/2 cup artichoke hearts
salt and pepper to taste
1 loaf good french bread or baguette
Process first four ingredients in food processor to thoroughly blend cheeses with seasonings. Add next four ingredients and pulse 2 to 3 times. Serve with sliced or broken off bread or baguettes.
