Recipes for homemade spinach cream cheese and roasted red pepper cream cheese
It makes me feel sad when people don't get enough veggies everyday {read: more vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, etc.!}
Which means I am always {always!} trying to come up with new ways to squeeze a few more nutrients into people's diets.
Sometimes veggies can make a good thing even better, and this cream cheese is a perfect example.
Cream cheese = good. Cream cheese + spinach = gooood. Cream cheese + roasted red pepper = reeaally good!
Remember when you paid extra for the cream cheeses with herbs & things in them? Well, silly you, you can make it yourself in mere seconds!
And then you can do things like smear it on homemade everything bagels, dip crackers in it, or use it in a sauce to coat chicken and {more} veggies for an easy & almost effortless meal.
There are multiple ways for how you can use this tasty spread.
The spinach cream cheese tastes more like regular cream cheese because the spinach doesn't add much flavor - just extra nutrients and green color.
The roasted red pepper version has lots of delicious smoky, peppery flavor.
I usually combine the two. However, it's not as pretty & certainly does not photograph like the individual ones. But if that doesn't matter to you, then by all means combine the two!
Or use whatever veggies or herbs you want in your cream cheese. Your imagination is the only limit for the flavors you can create.
You just need an 8 oz. block of cream cheese and your vegetable{s} and/or herbs of choice. {Note that the recipe calls for 4 oz. of cheese, so I cut the block in half to make the two flavors. If you want one flavor, then double the ingredients.}
Be sure that your add-ins are completely dry because you don't want to add any liquid to the cream cheese. It'll make it too runny. I did not follow this advice for my roasted red pepper version and ended up having to strain the cream cheese overnight because it was a soupy mess. Do as I say, not as I do.
I included the recipe for both the spinach and the roasted red pepper version.
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh spinach regular or baby
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until completely incorporated.
- Keep refrigerated, tightly covered when not in use.
Notes
Ingredients
- 1 whole roasted red bell pepper dried as much as possible and roughly chopped
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until completely incorporated.
- Keep refrigerated, tightly covered when not in use.
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