Strawberry Cheesecake Dip with Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips

This morning I woke up to some fantastic news - The Kitchen Generation has been nominated for one of Saveur magazine's Best Food Blog Awards!  What's funny is I quickly perused the list of nominees and was excited to see some fresh, friendly faces. I didn't even noticed TKG was listed until about an hour later on twitter. Whoops. At least delayed excitement is better than none at all! 

This along with our invite to speak at BlogHer Food '11 has all been surreal. Sometimes I think I'm dreaming or imagining all this and have to double check to make sure I'm not. When I first started this blog and then a year later when I decided to leave college for culinary school, I was scared. I didn't know if this was the right path for me, if it would work out. I was worried that I would struggle career-wise. I spoke with a lot of people before making my final decision about my education and I kept hearing the same thing over and over. If you love something enough, if you're passionate about something, you will make it work. So far, that couldn't be more true. Not to say this blog or what I'm doing right now is my "career", but it's working for where I am in life at the moment. It makes me happy. And what more could you ask for?

Alright, enough of the life lessons and more about the food. Snacks, to be specific. Snacks always remind me of being a kid and coming home from school starving from running around all day. This recipe is the perfect snack for spring or summer - light, refreshing, cool, with a great combination of textures and fruity, spicy flavors.


Recipe Rundown
Taste: Sweet, tangy, fruity, spicy.  
Texture: The dip is thick and smooth while the pita chips provide the perfect crunch.    
Ease: The food processor does all the work!  
Appearance: The dip is a beautiful shade of light pink while the pita chips glisten with sparkly sugar.
Pros: Perfect snack or appetizer.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? I'll probably use different flavors next time.

Strawberry Cheesecake Dip
Recipe by Tessa of Handle the Heat

• 1 pint strawberries (thawed if frozen), hulled
• 8 ounces Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons - 1/4 cup sugar, depending on how sweet your strawberries are

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, pulse the hulled strawberries until pureed and smooth. Pour strawberry puree through a fine sieve, pushing the pulp through and into a clean bowl using a rubber spatula. Discard any remaining seeds or particles. Clean out the bowl of the food processor and pulse the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and sugar until smooth. Add the pureed and strained strawberries to cream cheese mixture and pulse until combined. Taste, adding more sugar if necessary. Chill dip in the fridge for an hour before serving. Serve with cinnamon sugar pita chips and fresh fruit.

Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips  

• 1 package whole wheat pita bread, cut into small triangles
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons white sugar or raw sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush pita triangles with melted butter. In a small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar evenly over buttered pita triangles. Bake 7-10 minutes, until crisp.