A spinach artichoke dip can be an excellent appetizer for festive dinners. It is healthy and tasty and it can be combined with many other ingredients for creating a unique recipe each time you cook it. Both spinach and artichokes are healthy foods, rich in essential nutrients and easy to find all year round. Besides, they aren’t included on the list of high allergenic foods, very few cases of allergy to spinach or artichoke being known. Spinach is an incredibly rich source of vitamins and minerals. For instance, a cup of spinach leaves contains about ten times more vitamin K than the daily recommended intake value and about 4 times the vitamin A recommended daily dose. It is also rich in folate, iron and magnesium. In the same time, spinach is a low-calorie food, one cup containing about 40 calories. Other nutrients contained in spinach are lutein, very good for eyesight, vitamin E, good for mental performance, vitamin C, good for strengthening the immune system, and omega-3 fatty acids, useful in slowing down the aging process. Artichoke is also considered a healthy food, thanks to its anti-oxidant properties which help support the liver functions and which are thought to play an active role in decreasing the LDL cholesterol levels. Like spinach, artichoke is low on calories. This is why foods based on spinach and artichokes can be included in weight loss or maintenance diets. This depends, of course, on the other ingredients that are added to the mix.
How To Prepare Spinach And Artichokes For Cooking
Spinach
If you want to use fresh spinach, make sure you choose only healthy, green leaves, without discolorations or spots. Wash it thoroughly, under water jet, leaf by leaf, in order to remove all dirt or insects. Beware when you handle the leaves, because spinach can sometimes host wasps, which could end up in your kitchen and could sting you if you squeeze them. After you wash the leaves, remove the water in excess. You can use a salad spinner if you have one, but you can as well dry the leaves by gently pressing them in a clean towel. Trim off roots and stems. You can chop the spinach either before or after cooking. Whenever possible, choosing organic spinach is the best, because it doesn’t contain pesticides and herbicides. If you buy frozen spinach, thaw it and dry it very well before cooking it.
Artichokes
When buying fresh globe artichokes, it’s best to choose only heads with tightly closed leaves. Their color should be either dark green or green with bronze shades. Avoid loose heads, with discolored or dried leaves. Artichokes can contain a lot of dirt between their leaves, so soaking them in hot water before cutting helps removing sand and insects. After soaking for 30 minutes – one hour, cut the bottom stems, then remove outer leaves, as they aren’t nice to eat. Then cut about one inch off the top of the artichoke heart. The base leaves will still have their thorny tips. You need to trim those too and the best way to do it is with a pair of scissors. Depending on how you intend to further cook them, you can either leave the artichokes as they are in this preparation stage, or you can cut them in halves. If you don’t want to cook them immediately, beware that they would turn brown because of the oxidation process. You can prevent this by rubbing the leaves with lemon wedges.
Types Of Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipes
Spinach artichoke dip recipes are usually based on frozen ingredients, as fresh spinach is available only for a short period of time and artichokes are not common vegetables to be bought in the open market. Other goodies that can be added to the dip are cheese, seafood, garlic, onions, celery, milk, chestnuts, sour cream, mayonnaise and various spices. Marinated artichoke hearts can make a nice variation, if you can find them. If you like spicy foods and you’re sure your guests like them too, you may consider adding some hot chili peppers. Make sure not to overdo this, though, because if a food gets extremely hot, it loses some of its savor.
Spinach Artichoke Dip Serving Suggestions
Basically, there are two ways of serving this dip: hot or cold. Either way, you can serve it with tortilla chips, crackers, pita chips or fresh raw vegetables such as zucchini or red peppers for dipping, or you can spoon it into mini dough shells. A nice alternative is to put the spinach artichoke dip in a casserole, top it with a layer of grated parmesan cheese and bake it for about 15 minutes.
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