Sometimes things in the kitchen, as in life, don’t always go as planned…and that’s how I came up with this recipe for my Green Goddess Spinach and Artichoke Dip!
If I don’t have snacks prepped and ready for when I realize that I’m starving (I go from not hungry at all to starving pretty quick!), I end up making poor decisions. This generally means searching in the pantry for anything ready-to-eat that comes in a package. Not usually the most nutritious choice.
I love healthy dips. They’re a great way to make vegetable stick dippers or even plan rice crackers taste delicious, and they can also add vitamins and nutrients our body needs to our diet. Before I started cleaning up my diet a few years ago, I loved ordering the spinach and artichoke warm and gooey cheesy dip off the menu at restaurants. I wasn’t a big fan of spinach or artichokes, but the cheese disguised them so well that I didn’t care that they were in there 🙂
Then I found out I have a food sensitivity to dairy, so that meant no more dip. In this recipe, you’ll still get a cheesy flavor, but with no cheese and no dairy products in it at all. Spinach helps protect the body against inflammation, oxidative stress-related problems, cardiovascular problems, bone problems, and various cancers.
Artichokes are one of my favorite snacks, but in this recipe you’ll only be using the hearts. Those also protect the body against inflammation, but also are a great source of fiber and antioxidants, helps the body decrease LDL cholesterol levels, and since it’s high in Vitamin K (which protects us against neuronal damage and degeneration) it may also help prevent cognitive diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
And as for how I messed up making this recipe, I was super distracted while throwing this together, and ended up putting the spinach in the food processor too early (instead of adding it at the end with the artichokes). That made it come out gloriously green!
- ​3 cups baby spinach, chopped
- 1 can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed
- ​1/2 cup​ cashews (pre-soak in water for 6 hours, and drain)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ​1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ​1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice​
- 1/2 teaspoon psyllium husk
- Add all ingredients except the artichoke hearts to a blender, and blend very well until smooth and creamy.
- Add the artichoke hearts and pulse 5 times until they're broken up. Warm it up to serve!
