Lake Dip

This is by far the most popular dip I make. Even my pickiest child will eat it by the spoonful, and sure, it has a bunch of cheese in it… but it also has a bunch of raw veggies. Of course, fresh is always best, but this can also be made with some canned/pre chopped vegetables and a dry dip mix if you’re in a hurry, or camping with limited supplies. I do my best to use fresh and unprocessed ingredients, but sometimes it also comes down to some convenience factors. I’ll list out options for both, you decide what works for you!

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 bell pepper (I prefer red or orange for this, but really any will work)

• 2 jalapenos- seeded and chopped, OR 1 can pre chopped jalapenos

• 1 cup black olives- chopped OR 1 small can pre chopped black olives

• 1 1/2 cup corn (Bonus points if its straight off the cob!) OR 1 can of corn

• 1 medium tomato- seeded and chopped OR 1 can of rotel (I’ve skipped the tomato the last couple times I’ve made it, so I’m going consider this ingredient optional.)

• 2 8 oz bricks of cream cheese- softened

• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

• 1 package of ranch seasoning OR

  • mix your own spices -

    • 2 teaspoon dried parsley

    • 2 teaspoon seasoned salt

    • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

    • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

    • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions

• Chop bell pepper, jalapeno, black olives and tomato very file. When using my food chopper, I put it through twice. See the photos below to see what I mean.

• Add chopped mixture to a bowl with the cream cheese. The softer the cheese is, the easier it will be to mix. Add corn. Sprinkle the seasoning over the veggies. Mix well with a fork.

• Add shredded cheese and fold in.

• Serve immediately, or put in the fridge for later. This is one of those dips that is even better on day two as all the flavor has had time to mix together!

• I like it with tortilla chips and wheat thin crackers!