In my family, my mom and I have always been outnumbered by men. One adult male and two growing boys meant that anytime my mom put out a platter of smoked salmon & cream cheese for a party, there would be no smoked salmon left by the time it was our turn to get some. I think their mental cue for leave some for the rest of the party was always dominated by the how much salmon can I pile on top of this bagel cue.

After many years of suffering with measly smoked salmon scraps, I finally found the solution! Take away the plate of sliced smoked salmon and put the salmon IN the cream cheese. Dudes will still want to load it onto their bagel, but I’m pretty sure you’ll find some cream cheese left by the time you get to the appetizer table. There’s nothing worse than spending a ton of money on smoked salmon when you never get to try it.

This cream cheese is also PACKED with flavor and perfect for a party because you can do it ahead of time. The last thing you want is the stress of fanning out salmon slices when someone shows up to your party ridiculously early. Am I right?

And we’re off!

Ingredient gathering.

Cream cheese, lemon juice,onions, capers, horseradish & Greek yogurt go into a mini food processor. BLEND.

Chop up the smoked salmon. Divide it in half.

Add one half of your smoked salmon to the blended cream cheese.

BLEND until smooth & creamy.

Add the other half of the salmon to the dip and top with parsley. STIR.

Add a little lemon wedge on top and a few sprinkles of parsley. DONE.

Here’s Casey’s combo on an everything bagel. He doesn’t like tomatoes on sandwiches.

Serve the cream cheese with crackers or bagel chips and call it a dip.

Add this to your appetizer arsenal. You won’t regret it!

Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese

makes 1 1/2 cups

(recipe adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

• 6 oz. cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained & rinsed
• 1 tablespoon red onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• 4 oz. smoked salmon, coarsely chopped & divided
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley for garnish
• lemon slice for garnish

 

In a small food processor, process cream cheese, yogurt, capers, red onion & lemon juice until well incorporated. Add 2 oz of chopped smoked salmon and continue processing until smooth. Transfer cream cheese to a serving bowl and stir in the remaining 2 oz. chopped smoked salmon. Garnish with chopped parsley and add a slice of lemon on the top.