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Appetites and Adventures

Strange But Good Spinach Dip

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Green food has my heart.

Next year I may revolt and turn Valentine’s Day into an ode green food.

Dip is always good in my book.  Well, almost.  I’m sure there have been nasty dips made.  One of my favorite dips – Spinach – is beautifully green.  The problem with most spinach dips is that they are loaded with cheese/fat/salt/other stuff I can’t have.  And where’s the protein?!

Spinach Tofu Dip

I went back to my vegetarian days for the solution.  Tofu and nutritional yeast.  I swear there is nothing these two ingredients can’t do.

Blending the two together with my favorite spices created a creamy, cheesy base for my spinach dip.  Cinnamon and nutmeg may seem like strange additions, but they are really good with greens!  They complemented the smoked paprika to give this dip a fabulous depth.

Spinach Tofu Dip

Of course I then I un-veganized the recipe.  Twice.

For lunch I made a crust from 2T Kamut flour, 1T coconut flour, 1T apple cider vinegar, and just enough water to make it pancake batter consistency.  Then I cooked it a pan like a pancake before topping it with my Spinach Tofu Dip, zucchini, and balsamic chicken and placing it under the broiler to brown.

Kamut pizza with spinach tofu dip

Then for Meal 6 I mixed my dip with shredded chicken in a ramekin and baked it for 10 mins to make a creamy spinach-chicken treat.  The dip alone would be awesome wamred in the oven and eaten with crusty bread.

It tasted even better because my chicken was FREE!  Whole Paycheck Foods took much longer than promised to get the Naked (read: no salt) rotisserie chicken out of the oven.  I waited SO long to get it that they comped my whole chicken!  They may be pricey, but Whole Foods has the BEST customer service.  Amazing Valentine’s Day present. 🙂

Chicken and Spinach Tofu Bake

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Spinach Tofu Dip

Cheesy Spinach Tofu Dip

  • 9 oz firm tofu
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 T nutritional yeast
  • 2 T apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 tsp black pepper
  • 3/4 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 C frozen spinach, thawed

Place all ingredients except the spinach in a high-speed blender and mix until smooth.

Squeeze excess moisture out of spinach, then add to blender.  

Pulse until just combined; there should still be large pieces of spinach.

Makes 1 3/4 C.

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I want to see YOUR strange but good food!

The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above.

In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends!  Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.

 

Sprint 2 the Table

 

Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instagrams of your creations. 🙂



***

Single’s Awareness Day isn’t so bad.  I visited to my two loves: the gym and Whole Foods.  Good workout + free chicken = happy blogger.

When was the last time you experienced excellent customer service?

Did you do anything strange for Valentine’s Day?  Keep it clean, ya’ll… 😉

Comments

  1. I loooove my green foods too! I’m all about them, except last night I had an allergic reaction to brussels sprouts and kale, let’s not discuss how deeply saddened I am by this! It was insane a little bit. Strange but not good life situation. At least I can still eat spinach;) This looks awesome!! Saving it now.

  2. spinach dip is one of my favorites… your version sounds so good, I’m definitely going to try it soon!

    I didn’t even take a photo, but my latest Strange but Good was this morning”s breakfast – I had leftover rice noodles and peanut sauce, and I mixed that into a spinach tofu scramble. it was so dang good…

  4. Hell yeah! The best food is FREE food! I love Whole Foods AND I love this dip! You know I’m a total dipaholic so this is totally going doing in Casa de Broccoli like ASAP!

    As far as V-Day…that’s gonna require an email! 😉

  5. I’ve never had spinach dip, but your recipe sounds really good.
    Last night my husband returned from a business trip to Poland and brought home lots of strange food items, like instant noodles in beet soup. Eh?
    But he also got me the most amazing chocolate cookies and fresh pressed citrus juices. Yum!

  8. Love this! Just wanted to let you know I linked up to your blog post too! I tried to use the picture code but the picture wasn’t showing up correctly so I added a direct link to your blog instead 🙂 Hope you have a fabulous friday!

    • Thank you so much! Did you try to paste the code into the HTML view? I have to do that… or I just save the pic on my computer and load it that way (that’s what I did with Heather’s MMAZ link up today).

  11. I’m nervous and excited to try this out. Tofu scares me, but its a source of protein I need to get to know better. This sounds like a good way to try it, mixed it with something I already love!!

    • Don’t be scared! When it’s blended like this, you’d neer even know it’s tofu. 🙂 Another one to try is baked tofu. my Chili Nutty Baked Tofu has become a staple – baking it makes it sort of fluff up (in a good way).

  12. that sounds like an AWESOME day to me! and i love cinnamon and nutmeg on my greens, but i love anything you post. Your strange but good concoctions make me giddy.

  14. I love spinach dip! I’ve definitely heard of combining spinach and nutmeg before.

    Good customer service – I ordered some running shoes from some random place online. After like a month, the inside of the heel got all bunched up and I couldn’t fix it. The company not only let me return the shoes (without the box) for full price, but they paid for the return shipping.

  16. I am absolutely with you on the tofu and nooch! I love using the silken tofu for “cream” sauces and soups and nutritional yeast flakes? Talk about the best thing ever – high protein, high in B vitamins AND cheesy tasting? Yes please

    • Tofu is a creat soup-creamer. I use it to make a creamy tomato basil. tually… I need to make that again. Thanks for the reminder! 🙂

    • Kids doing strange but good makes me especially happy. They don’t have the “norms” beat into them yet. 😉 Thank you for linking up L’s creation!

  20. Free chicken–what a great treat on SA day! Makes me want to drive hours to the nearest WPF and loiter to see what I could score.

    I don’t know if beets and horseradish in a muffin is strange enough for you, but I’m linking it up anyway.

    Have a good weekend!

    • Haha – thinking you skulking outsdie WF makes me laugh.

      And YES those muffins are strange and good-looking. 🙂

  21. Mmmm I don’t mind a bowl of this, thank you very much! Last time I received excellent customer service was a few days ago at Starbucks- the management gave a friend and I a cookie on the house for no rhyme or reason!

  22. You, Lucky Duck, You! That’s a great Valentine’s Day present, if ya ask me.

    This dip looks amazing… I LOVE nooch in anything. It tastes so yummy!

    Valentine’s Day was uneventful.. Is it weird when I say that I thought of you as my BF and I were eating dinner? 🙂 We had chicken and asparagus. Your fave when it gets down to the nitty gritty of comp. prep.

    Happy Friday!

  27. I am SO making this dip!!! I also believe that nooch makes everything better. Seriously- I add it to everything!
    Have you ever tried the “fake parm” that uses nooch and walnuts? I can’t remember the brand, but holy cow. It’s amazing. If I buy it, I just eat it straight from the bottle.

  28. Oh yes, a healthy spinach dip recipe! I do hate the conventional ones are loaded with creme cheese and all sorts of nasty fatty stuff. This one sounds amazing though. I actually haven’t had nutritional yeast yet and it’s so on my list.

    Happy Valentines Day <3

  31. I could totally see you saying “Screw the chocolate, gimme some chicken!” nd I could totally see myself loving that dip. I used to be skeeved out by using tofu in things like dips and desserts, but its strangely good, and I’ve even snuck in it before without telling anyone and they couldn’t even tell. That actually makes me a little paranoid now that I think about it… what if someone’s doing the same thing to me?!

  32. I actually am gonna go the negative route, because last week the hospital tried to charge me twice due to bad advice from a customer service rep when I made a mistake trying to pay my stitches copay bill from the ER online. But I must say, the Apple Store has hands down the best customer service. They are always friendly and helpful (and try to save me money, thanks!), and sometimes they’re are even some super cute geniuses. 😉

    Last night, we tried the lemon poppy seed bread pudding with salted caramel sauce for dessert. It wasn’t strange, but unique, and definitely delicious. But tonight I have a date with Gym. I think I can, I think I can…..

    • you really have to watch those hospitals! They over-charge crazy amounts. 🙁

      That bread pudding sounds like heaven!!!

  33. How do you think these things? I seriously never would have thought to use this mixture as a “sauce” on a sort-of homemade pizza- but it looks great! And I’m always down for different ways to make chicken salad (which seems like is essentially what the second one is) but have never thought to bake it.

    • Thank you so much! I’m using this to make all sorts of things – made a salmon salad with it for meal 2 today! 🙂

  34. I have a thing about green food, too–I’ve been eating roasted brussels sprouts all week. So glad you had a good singles awareness day–a good workout makes any day better, and I would kill to have a Whole Foods up here!

  36. I didn’t do anything strange for V-Day.. just worked and went to school haha. I don’t think I have ever had spinach dip. Yours sounds and looks good though!

  37. Great customer service makes me smile. My grocery store, Nature’s Bin, gave me a 10% coupon for my entire order one random day. My bread store comped me a loaf of bread because they set aside the pan shaped loaf instead of the free form for me, and I would have gladly paid and eaten it anyway. Great product + Good service = Repeat customer.

  38. Despite what most people think, customer service in France is pretty good once you get used to the French. No, they aren’t going to smile idiotically at you and ask annoying questions about you’re personal life, but when I need help they’re usually on the up and up about whatever I might need. when I went to buy my chef’s uniform last the week two women were helpful at picking out what I needed without trying to sell me the most expensive item in the store and I like that.

    I love how you found so many different uses for the spinach dip! So creative. I’m obsessed with green foods too. I have to have something green in whatever I eat, even if its just a teaspoon of peas.

    • I heard that France just get a bad wrap. I’m going to have to come see for myself. 🙂

      I always need some green too. If my plate isn’t colorful, I don’t feel that the meal is complete.

  39. I’ve never had “real” spinach dip (it’s not a thing in Australia), but I know I’d love this. Mostly because this is exactly the kind of tofu snack I smoosh together and eat with a spoon 😀

    • I can’t believe you haven’t had it in your travels here! Maybe you didn’t spend enough time in the South. There’s still time to pop down to ATL! 😉

      • Well, the whole lactose intolerance thing. I only really “cheat” with dairy for that which is closest to my soul: dessert. Also, talk to your government about the visa situation and I’ll be there in a heartbeat.

        • Probably smart. I can only think of one restaurant spinach dip I consider “worth it.”

          Oh, my government. They are not so good with visa/immigration issues… 🙁

    • Oh yeah!!! I totally forgot about yours. Need to go back and look at that. 🙂

      I was actually going to add artichokes, but realized mine had gone bad. Boo.

  41. I’m sorry to miss this week, but I was very busy having fun with Brittany in Kentucky. 🙂 Blends before blog posts, I say!

    This reminds me of one of the very first recipes I ever posted on my blog…but only because it was spinach and artichoke, and a healthified version of the dip that I then used as a sandwich-stuffer. I’m pretty sure I was still in the stage of not knowing what nutritional yeast was and/or making fun of it at that time.

    • I GUESS that’s excusable. 😉 So glad you guys had a good weekend… and can’t WAIT til Blend when we all get together again!!!

      Can you believe there was life before nooch? 🙂

  42. Love the spinach dip idea, Laura, sounds yummy! Sorry I didn’t get to play on Friday. Hope to have something to share this coming Friday!

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