party appetizers: reverse dip bowl...

when I dip, you dip, we dip...

No, I'm not talking about the dance craze of the late 90s, I'm talking about party dips! Whenever I'm tasked with bringing an appetizer to a party, I freeze like a deer in the headlights. Not because I can't think of a thing to make, but because I can't narrow down my options. So yesterday, I thought, why should I have to choose, why can't I enjoy them all? And the reverse dip bowl was born!

This is what your typical chip/dip server looks like: 

Dip in the center and various dipping paraphernalia around the outside. 

In my reverse dip, I flipped it. 

 I put three dips around the outside and filled the middle bowl with thin pita chips. 

I found two of the dips on Pinterest (so technically this is also a "I pinned it then did it" post) and the third is my signature cream cheese salsa dip that is a big hit at any gathering. It's so easy and such a crowd pleaser that I filled two of the bowls with it and both were gone by the end of the Super Bowl. You take a softened brick of cream cheese, combine it with 3/4 of a jar of your favorite salsa and stir it together until its fairly smooth. I love it with a sweet salsa like mango, peach or lime. But you can make it with spicy salsa as well. It's two ingredients, delicious and easy. That's why it's my signature.

You can find recipes for the other two dips here:
Cilantro Lime White Bean Hummus
Creamy Avocado Dip

Since you're not making a huge portion for each dip, the reverse dip bowl is a great way to try out smaller versions of recipes and not worry about wasting ingredients if it isn't a hit.

I'm already thinking up other reverse dip combinations:
Mexican Fiesta: Salsa, Guacamole, Signature Salsa Dip and Queso. Served with Lime Tortilla Chips.
Game Day: Beer Cheese Dip, Horseradish Dip, Reuben Dip and Rotel/Velveeta Dip. Served with Pretzel Bread Chunks.
Ladies Day: Dill Dip, Signature Salsa Dip, Hummus, Smoky Sweet Potato Dip. Served with celery and carrot sticks.

Happy dipping!