Hummus Hoagie Sliders, Spinach-Artichoke Potato Salad & Salsa Corn

We love shopping at Sam's Club for items in bulk. The savings are wonderful and they carry the products we would normally purchase at a grocery store. However, I do sometimes have a hard time buying certain fresh food products in bulk - for fear of them going bad before being used. But let me tell you friends, I will no longer live in fear - I will buy those bulk products and make sure they get used!! Not only will it challenge my creativity in the kitchen, it will also help justify buying the items I have been dying to try. ;)

The first items I wanted to try were dips offered in the deli section. There are salsas, hummus and dips of various flavors. Don't laugh, but I was like a kid in the candy store. Although I wanted one of each - I settled on 3; Italian Rose Fresh Salsa, Artisan Fresh Spinach Artichoke Dip and Artisan Fresh Mediterranean Hummus. Now it was time to get crafty in the kitchen!!

I absolutely love substituting hummus for mayonnaise - it's lower in fat, lower in calories and I prefer the taste. But since we normally buy hummus at the grocery store, in a small container, I won't use it for anything other than pita chip-dipping pleasure. However, I now had over 1.5lbs of hummus to use as freely as I pleased - so I made some vegetarian Hummus Hoagie Sliders.

We have been on a vegetarian sandwich kick lately and I was hoping the hummus would add the perfect touch to one of these veggie sammies... it did!

For the Hummus Hoagie Sliders I used the following ingredients, in this specific order; toasted hoagie roll, hummus, baby spinach leaves, sliced tomatoes, french-friend onions, sliced cucumbers, clover & radish sprouts and crumbled blue cheese. Sliced them into 2" sections and voila!

I love, love, love going to a sandwich shop where they offer pasta or potato salad as a side. Since I couldn't recall the last time we had potato salad, I decided to make a new version - using the Artisan Fresh Spinach Artichoke Dip we bought at Sam's Club.

This was very easy, but will taste like you spent hours on it! First I diced some potatoes, boiled them until tender and then rinsed with cold water. Combined the Artisan Fresh Spinach Artichoke Dip, celery and bacon - mixing well. Then folded the potatoes into dip mixture. Seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, chilled and served. 

The hubby loved this so much it is going into regular rotation here at the Hungry Harps house. Score!

(Printable Recipe for Spinach-Artichoke Potato Salad)

Salsa made with corn is delicious - so I decided to twist that and make some Salsa Corn. Real simple, but not lacking in taste whatsoever. Two cans of corn, drained, and 1 cup of Italian Rose Fresh Salsa, not drained. Just like with the potato salad, if chilled, it will help the flavors marinade together.

I already have plans to make some corn cakes using this Salsa Corn, can't wait!

Ok, so I really couldn't believe I made an entire meal using dips. Not only did I meet the challenge of creating some dishes with dips, I also created a "Dip Themed" meal for my family - which was pretty cool and perhaps something to brag about. :)

Do you have any recipes that call for a dip, salsa or hummus? 

What is your favorite dip?

Although we went to Sam's Club to check out their fresh dips, we of course had to check out a few other things... Check out our shopping trip on Google+, I found a couple gems such as those Guinness Beer Brats. :)

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric