Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip *Plant Based. This classic appy seems to be a favourite for many. It would have come in SO handy at Mabel Lake. Over the weekend, I met one of my cousins son’s who has a fairly severe intolerance to dairy and eggs. There was so much food lying around from many different people, we were frequently reading labels to see what he could eat – poor kid. That’s when I wished I had pre-made this one and brought it with me. I can just smell it now heating up on the BBQ. It’s creamy, but not too rich, and full of tasty spinach, onion, and water chestnuts – gotta have that crunch! I bet it would have gone over really well during HappyHour too.
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1&1/2 cups cashew milk, unsweetened
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1&1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2-1 tsp pepper
- 3-4 tbsp tapioca starch
- 284 g fresh spinach
- 1 - 398 ml can artichoke hearts - drained & chopped
- 1/2 cup water chestnuts - drained & chopped
- 1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
-
Preheat the oven to 400*F.
-
Place the chopped onion and grapeseed oil in a pan. Over medium heat, sauté the onion until fragrant and tender - stirring often. Remove from heat.
-
In a pan over medium heat, add the spinach with about 1tbsp of water. Place a lid on and steam the spinach until wilted (just a few mins). Remove from heat and use the lid to help drain off any water into the sink. Carefully place the wilted spinach in the middle of a towel or paper towel, roll, and squeeze out any excess water. Unroll, place the spinach onto a cutting board, and roughly chop.
-
Place the chopped spinach into a large bowl and use your hands to separate and fluff. Add the chopped artichokes, sautéed onion, water chestnuts, and garlic. Stir until combined. Set aside.
-
In a high speed blender, add the cashews, cashew milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, sea salt, pepper, and tapioca starch. Blend on high until smooth.
-
Pour the cashew cream mixture into a pan over med./high heat, stirring often. The cashew cream should begin to thicken and become gooey - takes a few mins. Remove from heat and pour gooey cashew cream into the 'spinach' bowl. Fold well until everything is evenly coated.
-
Oil a 9x5inch baking dish and pour in the creamy spinach mixture, spreading out evenly with a spatula or spoon. Place in the oven and bake for 10mins, and then broil on high for another 5mins - gets the top nice and crispy.
-
Remove from the oven & serve hot with your choice of dippers.
~ Best dippers for this recipe include rice crackers, corn chips, and/or pieces of fresh sourdough bread.
~ I topped the dip with some white onion slivers - place on before baking in the oven.