Variations of Spinach Dip beyond the Indian one?

[Diana Cda]

Hi, everyone!

I tested out my clunky old food processor and was pleased to note that for once, it handled a recipe well! I made Alissa's Spinach Dip last night and had it for supper with 4 romaine leaves (an _entire_ batch! <g>).

What I like is that I got 4 cups of spinach in so easily! I'm always looking for fun, tasty and easy ways to get more dark greens into me and Alissa's dip fits the bill.

But beyond the Indian version in her book, has anyone tried other variations? I'd like to make it a staple but I don't want to tire of it. But I'm a dunce sometimes at mixing things together and don't want to risk the bag of spinach I have left. Has anyone put together stuff to come up with a new slant to this great dip?

Thanks. :)

[Basenjimamma]

Sounds so good, I haven't made that one yet..but I suppose you could take the indian spices out and replace it with italian, like different herbs and garlic, or asian with some ginger and bragg's amino acids..or maybe mexican with jalapenos and cilantro maybe some lime in there too..I would think the options are endless..
Good luck.

[Diana Cda]

That's the trouble, I suppose. The possibilities _are_ rather intimidating. I guess it always boils down to the fact that I don't earn a ton of money. If it weren't for that, I would be able to experiment much more freely. I'm also still not a natural yet at creating my own food without guidance from recipes. Fortunately, some of the things I'm now making can't be messed up too much but in terms of "special" things like this miracle dip, it's a little more dicey.

I think that the hot pepper and cilantro seems a safe enough bet. And using lime instead of lemon juice is a great idea. I'll have to give that a go.

I'm also lately using dehydrated mushrooms from Chinatown. They're not the best but until I dehydrate my own, the package has turned out to be quite economical. I find that 2 or 3 re-hydrated mushrooms do the job whenever I add them diced up to a dish. With avocado and spices, I can add these ingredients to anything and it tastes good. I can try adding some to the finished dip to see how that goes.

As an aside, I also recently figured out that I was using my spiral slicer incorrectly (I know, I know ... dumb!) but thanks to a video by Cherie Soria, I saw what I should be getting. So the avocado/mushrooms/spices trick works well as an accompaniment to what I now call Zughetti! <g> Loving it!

Thanks. :)

[levamssg]

This is one of my favorite spinach dips .... I don't put in as much lemon as called for tho.

Spinach Basil Pesto

2 bunches of spinach
1 bunch fresh basil
½ lemon, juiced
2-4 cloves garlic
1 cup pine nuts
½ tsp celtic sea salt
½ cup cold pressed olive oil

Clean and wash greens
Fill the food processor with 1 bunch of spinach and rest of ingredients … process. Then refill the processor with remaining spinach and process again.


Serve as a dip or over pasta