Fake Them Out Dip: Use up those winter greens!

Here’s the thing. This dip is exactly the same as the spinach and leek dip I posted a couple weeks ago. Only we didn’t have spinach. And I have an overabundance of chard. And collard greens. So, I have made it twice now with some variety of chard, and once with collard greens. It still tastes great! You get to use up that CSA produce you don’t know what to do with. The greens are very good for you, the leeks are good for you, and the yogurt is at least not as full of fat as sour cream would be. Plus it adds a stronger flavor. My kids did not even notice the difference even after I told them I didn’t use spinach. They did not care, they still ate it all up!

I probably should have put a pencil as a point of reference, but these are the biggest leeks I have ever seen. They are at least two inches in diameter at the bottom!!! I only used one for this recipe, but if you have regular sized leeks you might want to use two or three…

To prepare the chard, I first chop off the stems, and then rinse the leaves. After that I strip the center stem remaining in the leaves out by making a knife cut on either side of the stem.  Then I pile all the leaves up and make strips.  After the strips are all cut, I turn the cutting board and make strips in the other direction which results in small dip-able pieces greens.

The leeks I just sliced lengthwise in half (I do that before I wash them so I can make sure I get all that dirt out!) Then I slice them in small horizontal cuts.

I put the butter and leeks in first and let that saute a bit before adding the greens of choice. The greens cook down pretty fast.  The end result is yummy creamy goodness!  I learned a great tip from my Bible study leader last week.  This dip is equally good on whole grain crackers.  Whole grain crackers are much better for you then tortilla chips!  We ate ours on Kashi crackers last night, but any whole grain crackers will do…  If your family is like mine, this recipe only makes enough for three people to pig out late at night while playing cards…