Kara's Sights and Bites: Football season requires new dips

By: Kara Kimbrough

A copycat version of the famous Blooming Onion Sauce also doubles as a delicious dip for onion rings, fries and chips.

It’s officially football season – time for tailgating, attending watch parties and relaxing at home in front of the television to cheer on our favorite teams. As exciting as the game may be, simultaneously munching favorite snacks is part of the fun. Last weekend as football season kicked off, friends began asking for “new snack ideas” on social media. From the lack of responses, it was evident that very few “new” snack recipes are ever developed. This is especially true of dips, which, as far as I'm concerned, deserve their own food group.

I did a little research and learned these are the top 5 most-searched-for and downloaded dip recipes on comprehensive recipe collection, Allrecipes.com:

           1.     Buffalo Chicken

           2.     Hot Spinach Artichoke

           3.     Cold Knorr Spinach

           4.     Seven-Layer Taco

           5.     BLT

While I certainly agree these dips are delicious, they’ve been around for quite a while. I began searching for different recipes and found a few that, while still containing elements of other dips, possessed enough slightly-different ingredients to qualify as a “new snack.” And after sampling each of them, I highly recommend them as football-worthy (or any occasion, really) dip for chips, crackers and vegetables. If you’d like a few more, simply drop me an email and I’ll send them to you.

Enjoy football - and dip - season!

Million Dollar Dip

8 ounces cream cheese softened

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

¾ cup shredded cheese cheddar or Colby

7 slices cooked and crumbled bacon

¾ cup smoked almonds, finely chopped or pulsed in food processor

1-½ tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Place cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce and garlic in a mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Fold in shredded cheese, 6 slices of cooked/crumbled bacon, 1/2 cup of the almonds and 1 tablespoon of parsley. Pour into a serving bowl and top with remaining almonds, parsley and additional slice of cooked/crumbled bacon. Serve with chips, crackers or vegetables.

Blooming Onion Sauce and/or Dip

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish sauce

½ teaspoon granulated garlic

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1  teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish, garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Can be used as a sauce for fries or onion rings or as a dip for chips and crackers.

Creamy Pickle Dip

1 cup bread and butter pickles

1 cup dill pickles

8 ounces cream cheese softened

¼ cup ranch dressing mix

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon dried dill

Place pickles in food processor or blender and pulse lightly until finely chopped. Add softened cream cheese, ranch dressing, garlic and dried dill in same bowl; pulse until well combined. Spoon mixture into a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Top with additional chopped pickles for garnish. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Kara Kimbrough is a food and travel writer from Mississippi. Email her at kkprco@yahoo.com.