Tailgate Central: Non-Descript Cheesy Dip

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has some variation on the theme of processed cheese-food, cream cheese, and some sort of favoring. It's almost required that you bring something of this ilk to your tailgates. Some go with the traditional block o' velveeta with Rotel tomatoes, but that's kinda boring, isn't it? Instead, try using some fresh vegetables.

The great thing about a dip like this is that you can really do whatever you want to it. Add ingredients, subtract, whatever you want. The cheese provides a neutral enough base for you to create whatever sort of masterpiece you want... it's nearly impossible to screw up. Nearly.

Ingredients (makes around a quart of dip)

• 16 oz. processed cheese food (like Velveeta)
• 4 oz. cream cheese (usually works out to half a package)
• 1 large tomato, diced (substitute Rotel if you must)
• 2 whole jalepenos
• 1/2 large red onion, diced
• Green onions -- I used half of a bunch
• Cilantro -- I used about a quarter of a bunch

Directions
This is pretty easy. Dice up the veggies as you see fit. A food processor makes short work of this. Dump it all together either in a skillet of some sort, a microwave-safe bowl, or even a crock pot. If you go the stove-top route, stir often or it's going to end up baked to the bottom.

Use the cilantro sparingly, it's really quite strong and will easily over-power everything else if you're not careful. Also bear in mind that the stems of cilantro are perfectly good to use, but tend to be stronger in flavor than the leaves. You can always add more if it's not flavorful enough. Same holds for the green onions, but those tend to be much more mild than the cilantro.

While I was making it, I got the idea to put a half-pound or so of burrito or taco-seasoned ground beef in, but didn't have the seasoning handy, so I wasn't able to try that, but I bet it'd be good.

You could probably also get by with a different Velveeta/cream cheese proportion. In fact, many of these dips only call for one or the other, so adjust that to your taste. This dip is great to leave in a crock pot of some sort if you have the electricity, but if you don't this is a dip that will develop a bit of a "film" on top. I've heard rumor that a small can of cream of mushroom soup is supposed to cure that, but I've never tried it. Your mileage may vary.


When you're done, serve it up with tortilla chips, crackers, pitas, or whatever else you want. I guess you could eat it with a spoon, too, if you were so inclined.

Drop your own personal cheesy dip recipes in the comments if you want to show off.