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Friday, April 27, 2012

Grape Salad


I discovered this grape salad not too long ago when I had too many grapes (thanks mom) and was wondering how to eat it all.  It is surprisingly creamy and delicious.  I know its called a saladbut its almost like dessert since it is sweet.  There are different variations to this salad that you can find online.  I wanted to make it more healthy so I used neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese.  Neufchatel cheese has 1/3 less fat than regular cream cheese and is similar in looks and taste.  Also, I used a light sour cream, since it has about half the fat of regular sour cream and 1/3 fewer calories.  I suppose this balances out the sugar that I used, but its really not too much.  Do not omit the the brown sugar and pecan topping though!  It really makes this dish stand out and gives a nice crunch.  Hopefully you get to make this soon, because I couldn't wait to make this again when I first tried the recipe!


Ingredients

1 pound seedless grapes (I used red, you can use green, or use both.)
4 ounces neufchatel cheese (You can use cream cheese instead.)
½ cup light sour cream
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped pecans (I used glazed/candied pecans.)

 
Directions

In a large bowl, mix together the Neufchatel cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla with a hand mixer.

 
Add grapes and stir to coat grapes with mixture. 



Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans.



Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.  Enjoy!

Ellie likes to be in the kitchen with me :)