Aloha Onion Dip

Good afternoon!  I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend!  We finally got some good weather yesterday.  We didn’t anything with it though.  We packed.  We are getting rid of so much junk it is unbelievable.  We had boxes of stuff in our shed that hadn’t been opened since we moved 2 years ago.  If I haven’t needed it in the past 2 years, clearly I don’t need it now.  We have tried to go through rooms and closets when the girls aren’t home so they don’t battle us over every single thing.  For instance: Paisley in convinced she HAS to keep a box of baby toys she hasn’t played with since she was under a year old.  Seriously, baby toys!  They are both going to various birthday parties this weekend, and I am going to tear through their room like a tornado.  But a tornado that cleans and throws stuff out….not one that leaves a path of destruction.

Although we were packing and cleaning yesterday, I did get a chance to make us a really yummy dip to snack on.  I know, I know….this is a recipe you could have used last week so that you could have brought it to a Memorial Day party.  I’m not much on planning ahead;)  I made us what I call an “Aloha Onion Dip”.  It is a delicious combination of caramelized onions, pineapple, soy sauce and cheese.  I serve my dip with Hawaiian style potato chips, but it would be crazy good on bread too.

I ended up using two 8 ounce packs of cream cheese.  I went for the 1/3 less fat kind.  You can take your pick.

I also used a small can of crush pineapple, some butter, a whole sweet Maui onion, soy sauce and Monterey Jack cheese.  I was able to find a sweet Maui onion, but any sweet onion will do. 

Let your cream cheese sit out for a while to soften….and grate your cheese;)

I sliced my onion up into relatively small pieces.  You will want onion in every bite, so don’t just slice it into big chunks.

I caramelized my onion is about 2 tablespoons of butter.  Warning: this will take a while.  Like around 40 minutes.  Be patient and cook this on low.  Stir every now and then, but just let them go on low-ish heat.  It will happen.

You can salt and pepper your onions here, but go easy on the salt.  These onions will be getting soy sauce soon.

In my picture above, the onions are not caramelized yet….but they are well on their way.

Once the onions were caramelized, I added my drained pineapple and soy sauce.  I let this heat for a bit just to meld the flavors.

Soy sauce added.

Next, I melted in my 2 bricks of cream cheese and grated Jack cheese.  Then, I poured the whole mixture into a baking dish.

I topped my dip with a little bit of Jack cheese that I had reserved, then I popped the whole thing under the broiler.  I broiled this until the top was brown and bubbly.  Remember, everything inside is already hot.

Yum.  This dip is the perfect mixture of sweet and savory…..not to mention super creamy.  This is perfect for a crowd.  A crowd that likes onions.

Like I said, I served my Aloha Onion dip with Hawaiian style potato chips.  This would be crazy good baked in a bread bowl and served with bread too.  Or served with crudité for you healthy folks;)

MMMMMMMmmmmmm.  I love digging through the outside cheesy layer to get to the good stuff!

Aloha Onion Dip

1 sweet onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 eight ounce bricks cream cheese, softened

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Preheat broiler.

Sauté onion in butter, with salt and pepper, until caramelized.  This will take about 40-45 minutes on low.  When onions are caramelized, add drained pineapple and soy sauce.  Heat through.  Stir in softened cream cheese and ¾ cup jack cheese.  Stir until melted.

Pour dip into a baking dish.  Top with remaining Jack cheese.  Broil until brown and bubbly.