Cilantro Dip

I discovered this dip at the Meads' Civil War party. The Beavers (their team) may have lost , but I found this winning dip that was brought by their neighbor, Shannon. Shannon made two new dips for the first time, the recipes coming from a friend of hers. This friend told her that of the two dips, the cilantro one would be gobbled. The friend was right. The other one would have fared well on its own...but sitting next to the cilantro one, it never stood a chance! The dip has a bit of sweet and sour, with a little kick of spiciness that hits you toward the end of your bite.

So for our annual "Stragglers" Christmas Night party, I decided early on to make the dip. It's a definite keeper as it's so simple, and has proven to be a crowd pleaser at two events. Last night, the first brick of cream cheese was quickly eaten, but there was still enough "gunk" left to scoop over a second brick. So mid-party, I placed a second one on the platter, and spooned the dip over the cream cheese. What I'm getting at, is that there is definitely enough dip for two bricks of cream cheese.

Cilantro Dip

Mix together:
3/4 bunch of chopped cilantro
1 bunch of chopped green onions
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped*
3/4 C dried cranberries**
2 tsp sugar
1/4 C balsamic vinegar***
1/8 C olive oil***

Let the mixture sit for a couple of hours. Then pour over a brick of cream cheese and serve with crackers.

*I like things a bit spicy, so I did not seed my pepper. Friends who were at both events stated they liked the spicier version better. So, if you like a bit more heat (still mild enough for kiddos), leave in the seeds.

**I chopped the cranberries so they were smaller. Not a big change, but thought I'd mention it...

***The friend of Shannon's doubles the given amount of oil and vinegar as she likes more juice. So, you can play around with that as well!