Veggie Dip

This dip combines two things that I absolutely love: cottage cheese and jalapenos. At first you might think that it is strange to eat cottage cheese with something spicy, but just trust me, you are going to love this veggie dip. It taste like a tzatziki with a kick. It is spicy, creamy, and refreshing. I very seldom have leftovers, and everyone always asks me how it is made. So here it is!

I learned to make this dip a long time ago, one of my mom's friends would bring it over all of the time. However, being surrounded by picky eaters I have learned to tweak this recipe to please almost everyone. The original dip calls for onion and omits the cucumber. It is a super-fast dish to put together and tastes best if you leave it overnight to chill in the refrigerator.

For your mise-en-place you will need some basic ingredients that most of us keep in the pantry/fridge all time:

1. 12oz container of full fat cottage cheese*

2. 1 large cucumber

3. 1 small container of grape or cherry tomatoes

4. 3-4 jalapenos

5. 2-3 limes

6. Ranch powder**

*you can use fat free cottage cheese but it is too thin and will not be as delicious. Go ahead and splurge on the 4%.

**I make my own ranch powder, but you can use a package of hidden valley ranch powder (found in the salad dressing aisle)

The first step is to put the cottage cheese in a container big enough to fit all of the ingredients. Secondly, peel, seed, and small dice the cucumbers.

Add them to the cottage cheese

Then, half the jalapenos.

Clean out the membranes, I do this to control the spice level. Julienne the jalapenos and then dice them into small pieces.

Add to cottage cheese.

Half or quarter the tomatoes. Add them to the cottage cheese.

Mix everything together.

Slice the limes in half and squeeze the juice into the mixture.

Add ranch powder (I add about 2 tablespoons of the homemade) half a small package would do fine.

Mix it all together and enjoy with corn chips or potato chips.