Spinach and Artichoke Dip--the skinny version.

I won't lie and say this is the best Spinach and Artichoke dip you'll ever eat--it has no mayonaise or sour cream, two primary ingredients in the original that make it so fattening and delicious. But it is still very good and guilt free with only 1/3 of the calories of the original version, so for all of you spinach and artichoke lovers out there, it's worth a try.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of flour

3 1/2 cups of protein and calcium fortified nonfat milk such as Skim Plus (it's thicker than regular skim--I just used 1%)

1/2 c. finely diced red onion

1/2 c. finely diced red bell pepper

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 cup grated Romano cheese

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan

1 bag of thawed frozen spinach, drained and squeezed dry

1 can of artichoke hearts, chopped and squeezed dry

1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper

1 diced plum tomato and fresh shaved parmesan to garnish

To make:

-Whisk flour and milk in a large saucepan until blended; stir in onion, bell pepper and garlic. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until mixture starts to bubble and thickens to the consistency of heavy cream.

-Reduce heat to medium low, whisk in cheeses and stir until melted.

-Add spinach, artichokes, salt and pepper and simmer uncovered on low heat, about 5 minutes. Spoon into serving dishes and scatter top with diced tomato and parmesan cheese. Serve with chips.

As a sidenote: I actually found the flavor a bit bland and added a big shot of red pepper flakes to mine. I think some dried mustard would be good added in there. And I wasn't a fan of the frozen spinach, so next time I'll use fresh like I do in my full-fat version. If I were making it for other people, I would stick it under the broiler for a minute or two to melt the top layer of cheese and brown it up a little bit.