Perfect Pairings - Great ideas for backyard parties

My family is in love with chips.  I've learned to embrace it and use it to my advantage by combining their love (ok this might be a slight understatement...) of chips and healthy foods.  Putting together a fantastic and nutritious dip can make snacking fun and guilt-free for the kids!  Oh... the things you can hide in dips... Spinach dips, hummus dips (we have to skip these in our house because I'm allergic to lentils) and other salsas are some of the yummy dips we love at our house.

Recently, some of my favorite girlfriends and I got together with all our kids to share some super yummy recipes.  I made my famous bruschetta to be used as a salsa.  It's loaded with fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil so it is super healthy (and very addicting!).  No kidding, I make this once a week in our house and the entire family devours it!  It's very easy to make and my best advice to you is the quality of the tomatoes make or break the recipe (fresh crushed garlic and fresh chopped basil are also a must).

 

Ingredients:

●Vine ripened cherry tomatoes (approximately 1.5 quarts when quartered); the quality of the tomatoes makes or breaks this recipe.

●Handful of washed/rough chopped fresh Basil

●Several fresh crushed cloves of Garlic (amount depending on your taste)

●Handful of shredded Mozzarella

●Olive Oil (approx. 2 tablespoons)

●Balsamic Vinegar (approx. 1 tablespoon)

●Cayenne Pepper

●Salt

●Tostitos chips (Hint of Lime or Jalapeno Tostitos chips are also fantastic!)

Directions:

Wash and slice the tomatoes in quarters (depending on the size of the tomato), add the rough chopped basil, crushed garlic, shredded mozzarella (use the apple wood smoked mozzarella from Trader Joe's for a fantastic flavor addition), olive oil, balsamic. Add Cayenne and salt to taste. Mix.

Some of the other fantastic dips were...

RockinMama's Mango Dip

Amy Anderson's Spicy Black Bean Dip

Thoughts of a Mommy Full Press Fundido

DayTrippingMom's Pico de Gallo

L.A. Story's Spinach Artichoke Dip

You can find other perfect pairings recipes here.

What are your favorite healthy perfect pairings for chips?


* Note: This is part of a compensated campaign through The Motherhood and Frito-Lay.