Bread bowls are a creative way of serving food in. They are suitable for soups, the most popular being the white beans soup in bread bowl, but they can also be filled with a dip: spinach artichokes dip would do as well as any other dip you might think to cook.

Ingredients:

• 10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained, chopped
• 1 can of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh red bell pepper, diced small
• 1/2 cup canned sweet corn
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon of dried basil
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (regular or light, according to preferences)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 round sourdough or 1 loaf round peasant bread

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 8

How to cook the spinach artichoke dip in bread bowl:

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. You can use a blender or just stir the mixture well with a fork. Make sure that the spinach is very well drained of water, otherwise the dip will be too fluid and it will be absorbed into the bread. Cut the top of the round bread like a lid, then remove as much of the inside as you can. Take care not to make holes in the bread, or you’ll ruin your dish. Before pouring the dip into the bread bowl, you could refrigerate it for one hour. If you forget, that’s not a problem, refrigerate it together with the bowl bread. Serve with toast or with diced peasant bread.

If you’re concerned about healthy, low-fat nutrition, you can replace the sour cream with fat-free yogurt and use light mayo or leave it out. Garlic fans can add 1-2 garlic cloves peeled and minced.

Going vegan is probably a tough decision for some people. This can be noticed in the way they always seem to miss the tastes they knew from before, thus trying to re-create them in many vegan dishes they cook. This artichoke spinach dip recipe tastes like the normal ones which include at least one kind of cheese, thanks to the smart mix of ingredients and flavors.

Ingredients:

• 16 ounce frozen spinach, thawed, drained and chopped
• 1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts (in normal dips, canned artichokes will do, but in this case, the marinated ones are better because they already come with the flavors of the oils and spices in the marinade)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 small red onion, diced small
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (can be replaced with garlic powder, but freshly minced garlic is always better)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Dip preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 6-8

How To Cook It:

Saute the onion and the garlic in olive oil for 2-3 minutes, at low heat, stirring continuously. You can add a little liquid from the marinated artichokes. Then add the artichoke hearts cut in average pieces, together with the lemon juice, salt and pepper and let them cook for 2-3 more minutes, stirring gently. Start adding the spinach little by little, and when you’re done, cover the saucepan and let it cook for 5 more minutes, then add the basil and the oregano.

Serving tips: serve the dip hot, with dippings of your choice such as toasted bread or celery sticks. For festive occasions, you can top the bowl with breadcrumbs or with vegan Parmesan and with cherry tomatoes and black olives cut in halves or in quarters.

People suffering from food allergies or lactose intolerance will find this spinach artichoke dip recipe ideal, because although it doesn’t contain any real cheese, it’s still very tasty and consistent and it makes an excellent starter dish. It's also suitable for parties, when you are not sure your guests aren't allergic to dairy products and you want to be on the safe side with the foods you intend to offer them.

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces spinach, thawed, chopped, well-drained
• 1 can marinated artichoke hearts, chopped but not very small
• 8 ounces tofu cream cheese
• 1 cup vegan Parmesan (if you can find it; if not, try some vegan mozzarella cheese instead)
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise (check the label so you make sure it doesn’t have any dairy ingredients)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Serves: 8

How to cook it:

Like most dip recipes, this one also implies mixing all ingredients in a large bowl and blending them until you get an even mixture. If you wish, you can use a food processor, but in this case your dip will be creamy. If you still want to feel the artichoke pieces, either blend it for a very short time or use a spoon. Pour the mixture in a crockpot, set it on high in the beginning, then, after the dip gets hot, change the crockpot setting to lowest.

Serve the dip hot with toasted pita bread, tortilla chips or sliced celery or carrots. When served with bread or chips, you can add some diced tomatoes for a nice touch of color and taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced (can be replaced with garlic powder or garlic salt)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 8-10 oz frozen spinach, thawed, drained and cut small
• 1 cup fat-free yogurt
• 1 cup fat-free cottage cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (or freshly squeezed lemon juice)

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 8

Cooking procedure:

This is one of the fastest artichokes and spinach dip recipes. It’s easy to prepare because canned artichokes are pre-cooked, spinach is very good raw and the other ingredients just go inside as they are. Basically all you need to do is mix all ingredients together in a big bowl, stir well, let everything sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, then serve it. Be careful to drain very well the artichokes and the spinach, because if they are watery, the composition will be too fluid and you’ll probably have to eat it with the spoon. That’s not what you’d wish for a festive dinner unless you don’t care about your guests. Another cooking tip: depending on how much you insist with the stirring, the dip will get a different consistency. Just stop when you feel it’s right. Serving suggestion: top the bowl with diced tomatoes, black olives and some parsley and use tortilla chips, toasted pita bread or celery sticks for dipping. For those of you who like it hot, adding some hot chili peppers could be a great idea.