Meet my new favorite kitchen gadget: my brand new Kitchen Aid food processor.
You know when something happens and you’re initially bummed about it, but then everything turns out well in the end? This was the case with my food processor a couple of weeks ago. I was happily making these date truffles in it, and when I went to scoop out the dough, my blade was stuck on the processor base. Superglued on there.
Unfortunately, this was a dejavu scenario because it happened once before to me with the same gadget a couple of years ago. I took it this old fix-it man who took forever to get it back to me, but I was happy because he fixed it. However, when I went to call the same man this time, I found that he had retired. And there are no other Kitchen Aid support people in my area. Noooo.
Initially I was really annoyed, but then I realized how much use my food processor has gotten over the last several years and I decided that I’ve gotten my money’s worth. But before I got over my aggravation, I sent out a tweet complaining about Kitchen Aid. Ha. They responded to it and asked for my contact info, then called me and sent me really good savings offers for all of the processors they sell.
So what wound up happening? I obviously bought a bigger, better food processor!
You win this time Kitchen Aid! I like your products even though your blade getting glued onto the base situation is not cool at all.
Naturally when it arrived, I went crazy food processing things and recipe experimenting. I had missed my food processor so much! It’s definitely a kitchen gadget that I heavily rely on, and today is my first recipe where my new food processor was used.
When Blue Diamond sent me some of their Artisan Nut Thins to recipe create with, I immediately thought of doing a goat cheese dip. Creamy goat cheese is the perfect star for a baked dip, and I paired it with artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh basil from my garden to make it really flavorful.
After I baked the dip, I drizzled balsamic glaze on top for a little something extra. I love balsamic glaze, and it was a great addition to the dip!
Funny thing about this dip: I hadn’t planned on pureeing the artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes. Rather, I was going to pulse them into the dip and leave them chunky, but I forgot about this and accidentally pureed it in with the cheeses… and it turned out wonderfully! My hubby said that he loved the veggies pureed and the dip smooth, and I have to agree. Sometimes accidents work out quite well – in the kitchen and elsewhere!
Baked Sun-Dried Tomato & Artichoke Goat Cheese Dip
Ingredients
- 8 oz goat cheese
- 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes in oil
- 1/2 cup artichoke hearts roughly chopped
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 2 TBSP fresh basil roughly chopped
- 1-2 TBSP balsamic glaze for drizzling
- 1 garlic clove quartered
- 1/4 TSP salt
- 1/8 TSP pepper
- Blue Diamond Artisan Multi-Seed Nut Thins and slices of fresh bread for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine all of the ingredients except the balsamic glaze in a food processor and pulse until mostly smooth.
- Transfer the mixture into a 6x9 baking dish. Bake until golden and bubbly, around 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, and drizzle balsamic glaze on top to taste.
- Serve immediately with Nut Thins and bread.
Tell me.. When was the last time a kitchen mistake turned out well for you?
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Nut Thins.
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
Erghh, that has happened to me when making a date based dessert. Those dates are tough little things.
This sounds like my perfect dip. I reeeeally love goats cheese.
foodielovesfitness says
I’m glad I’m not the only one, I think? Not cool you ooey, gooey dates..not cool!
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health says
I feel ya, girl! I don’t know what I’d do without my food processor. I think we have the same one too, but mine is silver. It’s really nice but I wish the blade came off easier. You really have to yank it out which can get kind of messy.
It looks like it did a great job with this dip though. It sounds delicious! And those crackers- I need to get my hands on some ASAP!
foodielovesfitness says
Yeah, the blade was always kind of tough to get off on mine, especially after I got the blade fixed the first time. But that food processor is still AWESOME!
Dani @ DaniCaliforniaCooks says
I pinned this immediately! I’m always on the hunt for creative new appetizers!
foodielovesfitness says
Thanks girl!
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
I love it when companies do the right thing like that. Rock on, Kitchen Aid!
This dip looks awesome. I especially love things like this in the summer – my dinners are more often than not appetizer spreads.
foodielovesfitness says
We should have an appetizer dinner night together! I’m determined to hang out sometime in September 🙂
Annie @ The Garlic Diaries says
This looks absolutely amazing! It doesn’t get much better than a good dip. Can’t wait to try!
foodielovesfitness says
Thanks, Annie! I’m a huge dip fan too.
Deanna @ The Live Fit Girls says
Yum Yum Yum!! I have a sun dried tomato and goat cheese dip on my blog too! But I love the artichoke idea too! I have a big ‘ol food processor and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Enjoy it! 😉
foodielovesfitness says
NICE, sun-dried tomato + goat cheese is such a yummy combo right?!
Nikki @ will run for pizza says
That’s AWESOME that they did that for you!! I like that red!
Side note: I noticed all of your cutting boards on your counter, and I was like, why in the world would you need that many cutting boards?! But then I thought, that makes TOTAL sense and I need more! I mean, when you are using a cutting board, and having to wash it off after every different thing, it’s annoying. Or sometimes you just need a little one…or one for cheeses…one for foods that stain…ok, the list goes on and you are brilliant for having that many cutting boards.
foodielovesfitness says
Hahaha, this comment made me laugh! Yes, so we have different cutting boards because of the exact reason you mentioned: so that I can chop a lot and use multiple cutting boards at once. But then we also have one for my hubby’s chicken and any other meat things, and then there’s one specifically for fruit or non-garlic/onion items so that my fruit doesn’t get a pungent taste to it (icky!), and then also there’s one dedicated solely to cheese. There’s a method to the madness!