Spinach dip is always a fan favorite. And when I found Trader Joe’s Reduced-Guilt Spinach and Kale Greek Yogurt Dip, I thought I had found a little plastic bucket of heaven. The ingredient list is actually pretty natural on that product – you know how I dislike extra “filler” ingredients. I could sit down and eat this dip with crackers and veggies for a snack, and add some grilled or poached chicken and call it a meal. Spread it on bread and add turkey for a sandwich. I love knowing that all of the ingredients I am eating are fresh and healthy; it is a comforting thought when I am slathering this dip on every dip-vessel available in my fridge.
This dip comes together very quickly if you use a food processor. If you don’t, follow the same recipe, but just chop everything as finely as possible!
I recommend 2% Greek yogurt for this dip. Fat-free (0%) Greek yogurt has a gritty or dry texture, and this dip should be smoooooth.
Do you hide vegetables from people when you are cooking? I have to hide them from myself. I’m not ashamed. This is a great hidden vegetable dish – 6 varieties of vegetables in the dip, plus whatever you use as a canvas for this dip. Cucumbers? Boom. That’s 7.
Water chestnuts (technically an “aquatic vegetable”) are key for texture in a good spinach dip. Find them in the Asian/international aisle at the grocery store. If you are going to be processing them in a food processor, you may as well save a few cents and buy them whole. {If you are chopping by hand or adding them to a stir-fry, it may make more sense to spring for the sliced version.}
Make this dip in advance for a party, or bring a tupperware-full, along with a bag of carrots and a sleeve of whole grain crackers, to work for the week. I don’t keep mayonnaise on hand at home usually, and for this batch I made my own mayonnaise {recipe coming soon}, which incidentally takes about 5 minutes and is the only way I like the taste/thought of mayonnaise. If you do make your own mayonnaise, you will be using raw egg yolk, and I therefore recommend not keeping the resulting dip around for more than 2 days.
- 5 water chestnuts {find in the Asian food aisle}, roughly chopped
- ½ red bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 6 stalks lacinato kale, sliced into thin ribbons (hard ribs removed)
- 1 cup baby spinach, roughly chopped (large handful)
- 4 scallions, white and light green portions sliced thinly
- 2 c 2% Greek yogurt (a 16-17 oz bucket)
- 3 T mayonnaise
- 1 T honey
- ½ t onion powder
- ½ t garlic powder
- ½ t dried dill
- kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste {try ½ t salt and ¼ t pepper}
- Place the water chestnuts, red bell pepper, carrot, and garlic in the food processor, and pulse just a few times, until they are finely chopped. Remove from the processor and place into a large bowl.
- Place the kale, spinach, and scallions in the food processor, and pulse just a few times until finely chopped. Add to the vegetables in the large bowl.
- Add the yogurt, mayonnaise, and honey, and stir until evenly distributed.
- Add the remaining ingredients - onion powder, garlic powder, dill, salt, and pepper - and stir until evenly distributed.
Adapted from: http://sharedappetite.com/recipes/trader-joes-copycat-spinach-and-kale-greek-yogurt-dip/
That looks awesome, can’t wait to make it!