Santa Fe Dip

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, here you have it, the dish for which everyone who takes a bite asks me for the recipe…Santa Fe Dip. Believe me, you can’t go wrong with this on your Cinco de Mayo table! This delicious dip is chock full of onions, red peppers, green chilis, corn and spices all held together by gooey Monterey Jack cheese and topped with jalapeños for good measure. YUM!

Folks gobble this before I can even set the dish down on the table. I’m not kidding, the second I emerge from the kitchen with this bubbling hot zesty dip, people armed with tortilla chips start circling round me like sharks! But I get it, it is that good! And since you can prepare the veggie part of the dip ahead of time, it comes together rather quickly. A fact that works out great when you’re in that last few minutes crunch before your get together, you know where folks have started arriving and you’re still trying to get your party fixins out of the kitchen? Or perhaps that’s just my poor planning…Anyway, you’ve got to try this dip. I mean today. With Cinco de Mayo happening tomorrow, you’ve got to get busy and you won’t want to miss out on this treat!

Santa Fe Dip

recipe from: my mom

ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3 1/2 Cups frozen corn
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 Cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 Cup red pepper, chopped
• 1/4 Cup (4 oz. tin) Ortega chilies
• 2 teaspoons garlic, chopped
• 1 Cup mayonnaise
• 8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Cholula sauce to taste (you can use any hot sauce you prefer)
• sliced jalapeño peppers to garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet. Add corn, salt, pepper and cook until deep golden brown. Transfer to bowl to cool.

Melt remaining butter in pan and add onions, peppers, garlic and chilis. Saute until onions and peppers are soft and no liquid remains.

Add corn to mixture and let it cool. **At this point you can refrigerate the veggie mixture overnight if you wish and assemble the rest of the dip on the day you wish to serve it.**

Mix the mayonnaise, cheese, cayenne pepper together in large bowl. Add the veggie mixture and stir until combined. Add Cholula or hot sauce of your choice to taste.

Transfer mixture to a baking dish (I used an oval dish about 10″ long and 2″ deep, but have also just used a shallow round casserole dish. A 9″ pie dish would work as well.) Top with some remaining cheese and sliced jalapeños.

Bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.

Enjoy!