Paula Deen's Lean: Warm Mexican Crab Dip

Want a recipe to kick your regular Crab Dip appetizer up a level? This recipe, full of flavors from jalapenos, cumin and chili powder, will certainly do the trick. All together, it takes about an hour, but I promise it is totally worth it! By the time you finish sippin' on what is left of that light beer you used for the dip, it will be time to dive in. Here we go! Dig into this "cookin' lean" version of Paula Deen's Warm Mexican Crab Dip!

WARM MEXICAN CRAB DIP
Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic; minced
• 2 tablespoons jalapeno pepper; seeded and chopped,
• 1/2 cup light beer
• 2 cups FAT FREE half-and-half
• 1 (8-ounce) package of REDUCED-FAT cream cheese
• 1 (8-ounce) block of Cabot 75% REDUCED-FAT cheddar
• 1 pound lump crab meat, drained and picked for shells
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (roughly 2 limes)
• 1/4 cup minced green onion
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour (for thickening; optional)
• Store bought BAKED TORTILLA CHIPS or LOW-FAT CUMIN DUSTED TORTILLAS

DIRECTIONS
In a 4-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic and cook stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Stir in the light beer and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in half-and-half, cream cheese, and Cabot cheese, whisking until melted and smooth.



Stir in crab meat, lime juice, green onion, cilantro, and chili powder and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the salt, black pepper, cayenne, and cumin. Transfer the dip to a serving bowl and garnish with sliced jalapeno pepper, green onion and/or cilantro, if desired. Serve hot with warm tortilla chips.

RESULTS:

Everyone, with the exception of my picky-eatin' husband, loved it! Rudy can be a little funny about things. He loves pizza, salsa, marinara dishes; hates chunks of tomato on or in anything. He could eat crab legs all day long, yet won't touch a crab dip or crab cakes. He is a little silly about things, but that's Rudy and that's why I love him.
Anyhow, back to the dip. I ran into a couple things as I was making this. First, if you are familiar with shopping for crab meat, you will know that lump crab is quite pricey at about $16 a pound. That can be a little much, so if you still want to test this recipe out without breakin' the bank, try using claw meat ($12/lb.) and maybe cut the recipe in half. The recipe makes a ton of dip! Paula says it is 4-6 servings, but according to our calculations, it could serve at least 8. The second adjustment I made was to add the flour as a thickening agent. Since we are using lighter dairy products, it was lookin' a little more like a soup and not a dip. 1-2 tablespoons of flour is all it took to bring this dip back to the right consistency. Overall, this is definitely a dip I would make over and over again.
Here's the breakdown. The original recipe was figured using 6 servings on this handy little recipe analyzer from Calorie Count. Not all the items are always there, so I just add them on my own. It's a great tool for quick and easy recipe nutritional analysis. Just copy, paste & click!

BEFORE: 525.83 calories;  43.51g fat;  5.83g carbohydrate;  27.74g protein; .65g fiber
AFTER: 200.75 calories;  7.14g fat;  11.20g carbohydrate;  22.68g protein;  .53g fiber
SAVES: 325.08 calories & 36.37g fat 

*PRINT~FRIENDLY*

NUTRITION FACTS (per serving): 200.75 calories;  7.14g fat;  11.20g carbohydrate; 22.68g protein; .53g fiber  *Facts do not include tortilla chips.