Spinach Dip Recipe - a contest winner

I have a large family and we get along very well. We love to get together often and let out children run and play together too. Our get togethers are always centred around a meal, usually a barbecue or something fairly relaxed. This is for many reasons, but the main one is that my 4 lovely brothers are very fussy eaters. They think we should 'feed the man meat'. Vegetables, especially of the green variety, should be rarely, if ever, seen at the table.

Sadly, each of my brothers is married to a very good cook. How sad it is to see their culinary skills whittled away on steak and sausages! How boring it is as a cook to have to make the same thing over and over again.

Earlier this year I was talking with my sisters-in-law about recipes and food in general when one of the girls piped up and said "I have a craving for vegetables. I want to cook something that is different. I used to enjoy cooking when I could try out new recipes and ideas....."

This triggered a bit of a rebellion amongst us, and we came up with the idea of a vegetable contest. Whoever could prepare a vegetable dish for the next family get together that would actually be tolerated by the men would be the winner. (Winner of what? Just the honour of being the winner! I mean, imagine doing something that my mother couldn't do!)

Well here is my winning recipe.

Spinach Cob Loaf Dip.

Ingredients:

500 grams spinach

1 carton sour cream

250 grams tasty cheese

thick vegetable continental soup mix

1 cob loaf

Method:

Cut top off cob, hollow out.

Mix all other ingredients in bowl. Emoty into the cob. Place the cob into the oven 1/2 hr at 180C..

Keep watching it to make sure that it doesn't burn the loaf. Place top on cob & bits from inside around tray bake further 10 minutes.

Serve the cob on a large plate and scatter the bread pieces around it.

I am the winner!

I think I won the contest because I served the vegetables in a form that was not what they were expecting. (It also tastes delicious) They could stand around the barbecue cooking their meat and nibble on the dip at the same time. What a great way to sneak some veggies into their diet!

I also made some lovely little Ricotta and Spinach Strudel Fingers, but that is another story.........