Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Recipe by Cadry Nelson at Cadry’s Kitchen.
VEGAN SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP (Cadry Nelson)
• 1 cup raw cashews soaked in water 2 hrs or overnight
• 1 cup carrots chopped
• ⅔ cup water Plus extra for boiling carrots
• 2 cloves garlic
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
• ½ teaspoon granulated onion
• 1 teaspoon white miso paste (omit for soy-free version)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 big handfuls baby spinach
• 1 cup quartered artichoke hearts (~ 8 hearts), drained
• ½ cup yellow onion, chopped small
Handful tortilla chips Plus extra for serving
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Drain the cashews and set aside. Put carrots in a small pot, cover them in water, and bring the water to a boil. Cook for five minutes or until they are fork tender. Then drain the carrots.
In a blender, add the soaked and drained raw cashews, cooked and drained carrots, ⅔ cup water, garlic, nutritional yeast flakes, granulated onion, miso paste, and salt. Blend until completely smooth. Add extra splashes of water, if necessary, for blending. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sauce from the blender, baby spinach, artichoke hearts, and onion. Transfer the mixture to a 1 quart casserole dish. Smooth the top. Crunch a handful of tortilla chips in your hands to cover the top of the dip.
Place the dish in the oven and bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Serve immediately with tortilla chips, crudités, bread or crackers.
Inspired by the Life-Affirming Warm Nacho Dip in The Oh She Glows Cookbook.
This was a Recipe Challenge recipe. I tried making it and it turned out really well. I learned something about technique which is that you don’t need a high-speed blender like a Vitamix to blend cashews. I soaked mine overnight and put them in a regular blender—the result was not super-smooth but worked well for a baked dip like this with other ingredients which were chopped like the artichokes. I think I could even have used my food processor to blend the cashews and it would have been fine. You just have to be careful not to have too much liquid sloshing in your food processor—you can always blend the solid ingredients with a small amount of liquid, decant into a bowl or pot (depending on if it needs heating) and whisk or stir in more liquid. Anyway, we liked the taste of this dip—actually had it for lunch in a wrap
Tips from Cadry if you don't have time to soak cashews:
• Cover the raw cashews in boiling water for at least ten minutes (or as much time as you have). Pro tip: A microwave will work here!
• Grind dry raw cashews in a coffee grinder until they’re fine like a flour. Then add them to the blender and continue the recipe as written.
• If you have a high-speed blender, you can skip soaking the cashews. Although, you may want to add a splash more of water to help it blend easily, if necessary.
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This delightful website has lots of mouth-watering recipes. I have featured Cadry Nelson’s take on Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Dip, that ever-present holiday offering that is usually full of dairy products and saturated fat. There are many plant-based “takes” on this appetizer: they often contain cashews (as does this recipe), sometimes white beans and/or tofu. This is the first version I have seen that uses carrots—great for nutrition and color!