The last movie I saw in a theater was Titanic.  Sitting still for three hours to watch a movie it absolute torture to me.  I haven't been to a theater since and plan to never go again.  Occasionally I'll watch a movie at home with Wilson, typically he sits in his recliner and I run on my treadmill - win/win, he has my company and I don't have to sit still!  Wilson was eager to watch The Good Shepherd on demand and asked me to join him.  After I agreed he informed me it is about 3 hours long, 167 minutes to be exact! 

Fine, we are going to stay in Saturday night and have "old fashioned movie night", nibble on food and sip wine.  I needed to make something that could sustain me for 3 hours, because I will sit still for food and wine :)  Movie night tends to be synonymous with junk food so I decided to make a healthy version of Spinach and Artichoke dip along with a Cannellini Guacamole and Chipotle Lime Mushroom Salad.  I served raw veggies for dipping along with my leftover whole-wheat polenta bread.

Spinach Artichoke Dip (white goop free)

1 14-oz can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped

1 10-oz pkg spinach, thawed & squeezed dry

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and chopped

½ cup red onion, minced

1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

½ tsp kosher salt

12 grinds black pepper

Combine well.  To serve, simply place in individual crocks and microwave until warm.  Simple and flavorful and much, much lower in calorie then traditional spinach artichoke dip containing, mayo, sour cream and/or cream cheese.

Cannellini Guacamole

1 15-oz can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed

¼ cup red onion, minced (or more to taste)

¼ cup cilantro, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small serrano chili pepper, minced (to taste)

¼ cup fresh lime juice

½ tsp kosher salt

1 avocado, peeled and chopped

few roma tomatoes, diced with seeds removed

Place the drained beans in a large bowl and mash a bit with a potato masher or fork. Toss in the onion, cilantro, garlic, lime juice and salt. Fold in the chopped avocado and tomatoes.

Chipotle & Lime Mushroom Salad

I'm trying to learn to like mushrooms so keep trying them in different ways.  This "salad" is based on a few recipes I saw on other blogs.  I pretty much winged it as I went along using only 8 mushrooms.

crimini mushrooms, each cut into 6 wedges

fresh lime juice, about 1 lime

drizzle extra virgin olive oil

red onion, thinly slices into crescents

1 lime, thinly sliced in circles then in half

1 T chipotle chili pepper in adobo, minced

¼ cup parsley

1 T garlic, minced

1 tsp oregano

kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Toss all ingredients together and let marinate in refrigerator, the longer the better.  Keep in mind that the flavor of the chipotle peppers will increase over time.

Serve at room temperature.

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This may not come as a surprise to you but I didn't make it through the whole movie, finding any excuse to get up.  It looked like a pretty good movie and I am going to see if there is a book.  Ironically I can sit still all day to read a good book :)