Spinach Artichoke Casserole

 

A couple weeks ago, I actually sat down with my cookbooks and searched for some recipes to try.  The idea was to find recipes that I could prepare on Sunday and have ready for the whole week.  My vegan casserole cookbook seemed like a good place to start!

This one was described like a spinach-artichoke dip, but with instructions to mix in pasta and bake.  Everything about it was great!  And it lasted through one dinner and several lunches!  Perfect.

Girl's Night!

I hosted a girl's night in with Arbonne party the other night and this was the spread:  all gluten-free, soy-free, vegan.

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Italian Nachos
Kale, spinach, and arugula salad
Veggie tray and hummus
White Bean Chili (not pictured)

The spinach artichoke dip was of course the favorite dish of the night.

For the Italian nachos, the recipe called for ground beef, but I just chopped up two portobello mushrooms and mixed that with marinara sauce.  Actually Megan made the Italian nachos, I just told her to use the mushrooms instead of beef.  She then spread the mushroom-marinara sauce over the corn chips and added arugula, basil and Daiya mozzarella.  

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

 
This is by far the best vegan spinach-artichoke EVER. 

Ever.

I made it for a Super Bowl party and it was a hit!  And it's totally vegan!  No one would have known, except I did put a label on it that drew attention to that fact that it was dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, vegan.  I served it with cucumber slices to be super healthy, but I also ate it with some corn chips that someone else brought, and it was just as good!

I got it from this website, paleo spirit, and I plan to make it again and again, it is so good.  SO GOOD!  I keep repeating myself because I just don't know how else to explain how good it is.

Here is the recipe, copy and pasted from paleospirit.com, original post by the author Lea.

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 2, 10 ounce boxes frozen, chopped spinach
• 2, 14 ounce cans or jars of artichoke hearts (I used brined)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (adjust to taste and depending on how salty the artichoke hearts are)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups (approximate) cashew cream

Instructions

1. Defrost the spinach and squeeze out the excess water. Set aside.
2. Drain and roughly chop the artichokes.
3. Sauté the onions in the olive oil until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Stir in the chopped artichokes, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and cayenne and heat through.
5. Add in the spinach and lemon juice and stir until heated through.
6. Stir in the cashew cream.

How to Make Raw Cashew Cream

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw cashews (whole cashews, not pieces)
• fresh, filtered water

Instructions

1. Rinse the cashews well, place in a bowl with enough water to cover them by about an inch. Cover the bowl and soak the cashews for a MINIMUM of two hours but preferably overnight.
2. Drain the cashews, rinse under cold water and place into a food processor or high-speed blender with one cup of fresh, filtered water.
3. Process on high for several minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides, until you have very creamy texture. (It may take some time.)

Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups raw cashew cream.
For a thicker consistency, more akin to ricotta cheese, I suggest using half a cup of water and adding more if needed depending on your desired result.



This dairy-free spinach-artichoke dip is best served warm. We enjoyed it with slices of cucumbers and red bell peppers because they were good for scooping. It would also be great with some grain-free crackers and/or different veggies.

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

 
As we know, this is one of my favorite things to make.  I've never followed the same recipe, and it's different every time.

This is what I did this time:

Ingredients

 2 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 1/4 cups artichoke hearts, canned or jarred
4-5 cups fresh spinach
2 tablespoons Vegenaise
1 tablespoon Tofutti Cream Cheese

Directions

Over medium heat, saute the spices, onion, and garlic until soft.  Add the artichokes and stir well.   When the artichoke mixture is nice and hot, add half of the spinach, and mix until the spinach is wilted.

Meantime, put the rest of the spinach in a large bowl with the Vegenaise and Tofutti cream cheese. 

Add the hot artichoke and spinach mixture to the large bowl and mix everything well.

Serve hot or put in fridge and serve cold.  It's amazing and totally dairy-free either way. 

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Here's one for all those vegan naysayers:  The other night I made an amazing spinach-artichoke dip from fresh artichokes and spinach.  As we were busily gobbling it down for dinner with tortilla chips and pita chips, Will said "This is definitely not healthy."  I replied, "A-ha!  You think it's not healthy because it tastes so good!  But you're wrong -- it's so super healthy and you wouldn't even know it!"

Sorry I don't have a picture, but we were so starving and ready to eat, we just dug in before I could get my camera out.  However, here is what was in my super yummy and healthy spinach-artichoke dip

1 cup freshly cooked artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup fresh spinach, steamed
1/2 cup sauteed chopped onions
1 teaspoon Vegenaise
1 teaspoon Tofutti cream cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Daiya mozzarella 

Mix it all together.  Put into one big round baking dish or two smaller baking ramekins.

Generously sprinkle the Daiya mozzarella on top and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until nice and golden and bubbling on top.

If I brought this to a party, I swear nobody would know that it was vegan.  In fact, I'm going to test that theory at the next event. 

Super bowl Sunday

I know this is a little late, but it was a busy week!  You know, I watched a lot of movies and stuff...  No, but seriously it was a super exhausting week and all I really felt like doing when I got home was watch movies.  Therefore -- not much writing. 

Anyway, this is what I made (or prepared from a package) for the Super bowl party we went to last Sunday:

Spinach/artichoke dip

 (See recipe below)

(Gardein) Buffalo chicken wings and (Gardein) Chipotle lime crispy chicken tenders

(When one meat-eating boy came back from a snack run to the kitchen he proclaimed, "Who's been holding out on that fake meat stuff?!   It's really good!"  Thankyouverymuch.)

 Israeli Cous Cous Salad

And Lisa provided this super yummy vegan dip from Whole Foods!   

Michele's Vegan Super Bowl Spinach-Artichoke Dip
This is what I did, but these kind of things are all about throwing stuff together and making it "to taste."

10 baby artichokes, steamed, peeled, hearts extracted chopped into small pieces
1 bag fresh spinach, chopped and steamed
1/2 cup Tofutti Sour Cream
1/2 cup Tofutti Cream Cheese
1 tablespoon Vegenaise
1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Daiya cheese shreds to sprinkle on top (optional)

Mix everything together well, except the Daiya cheese.  Put the dip into an oven-safe dish, sprinkle the cheese on top and bake in oven for about 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Serve with French bread or chips!  Delicious!  The guys were too busy eating their real chicken wings (puh-lease) to thoroughly enjoy the amazingness of this vegan dip, but I'm sure deep down inside they loved it.  As for the us girls, well, the more for us! 

It was a good meal and a good game.