Spinach Dip with Rye Bread

I’m a snacker and I come from a whole line of snackers. When Marie and I go out shopping or wherever, we are more apt to snack or get a selection of appetizers than to eat a full meal. So when I saw the spinach dip in the grocery store on our last foray into town, I reached for it. Then I read the label and reminded myself that it contains dairy and back on the shelf it went.

I am not a big consumer of spinach dip. As an Italian I’ve always prefered my spinach in garlic and oil and heaped on some delicious Italian bread and sprinkled with salt. I’ve eaten it this way my entire life. It wasn’t until I had cream of spinach that I realized my favorite dad/daughter bonding food could have an opposite effect. I shunned spinach dip at every party thinking that it must taste like that creamed monstrosity. For years I turned up my nose at it, until one of my friends made it fresh and it looked and smelled completely different.

I agreed to taste it on one condition, that she would give me a brand new toothbrush so I could immediately get the taste and texture out of my mouth if I hated it. She agreed and I dove in…well, dove is not the right word. I took the teeniest, tiniest bite you could imagine, afraid I would retch. After being ridiculed, I took a substantial taste. Unexpectedly, it was delicious! I grabbed a piece of bread and this time I really did dive in.

I have never attempted to make this before, and I rarely have bought it, but since seeing it on the shelf at the supermarket it definitely gave me a craving. So here we go.

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Spinach Dip

1 small bunch spinach, wash well, slice into wide strips and remove stems

4 large cloves of garlic (crushed)

1/8 cup olive oil

1 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup almond milk added slowly (you may need more or less)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp onion powder

dash salt

pinch pepper

1/8 tsp nutritional yeast

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon diced jicama

Prepare the spinach by tossing it with crushed garlic and olive oil in a heat resistant bowl. Place in dehydrator for 4-5 hours at 115 degrees, tossing every half our to keep leaves from drying out. The spinach is ready when it’s wilted.

Puree pine nuts with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, pepper flakes, nutritional yeast and add the almond milk slowly until it’s smooth and you like the consistency.

Stir the spinach and jicama into the pine nut mixture and serve with vegetables or with our delicious Rye Bread