Spinach dip

I knew I had two weeks of spinach from my CSA, and a party to attend where I did not want to show up empty-handed. This led me to the idea of making a spinach dip with fresh spinach, instead of frozen. I found this recipe and adapted it to my liking and the ingredients I had on hand. 

The funny thing is that I naively thought that I would have enough spinach! I figured out that I had about five ounces and when I cooked that down I realized that if I only used that, it would be more like a carrot/onion/garlic dip. I had no luck getting spinach at the farmer’s market (though I did treat myself to some cherries and tomatoes, and a yummy cranberry current scone from Clear Flour Bread). In the end, I had about 17 ounces of spinach and that was definitely spinach-y enough.

Mise en place

Spinach dip
Source: Adapted from chow.com
Makes: 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced small
2 garlic cloves (or 2 garlic scapes), finely hopped
1/4 tsp salt, plus more as needed
1/4 tsp black pepper, plus more as needed
16-20 ounces baby spinach, washed
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pita chips, crackers, chips and/or veggies for serving

Directions
1. Place a food-safe dish towel, cheesecloth, or a quadruple layer of paper towels on a cutting board and set aside. Place a fine-mesh strainer in the sink.
2. Heat 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and stir to combine. Cook until vegetables have softened, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
3. Return the pan to medium heat and add the other 1/2 Tbsp olive oil. Add half the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach starts to wilt. Add the other half of the spinach and cook until completely wilted.
4. Transfer the spinach to the strainer in the sink. Using a ladle or spatula, press on the spinach to squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. Wrap spinach in dish towel or cheesecloth and squeeze as much additional liquid out of the leaves as possible (or drain using paper towels).
5. Chop spinach finely and transfer to the bowl with the vegetables. If possible, chill vegetables until cool (1-2 hours).
6. Once chilled, mix in the sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice and stir to combine. Cover tightly and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours.
7. Serve with pita chips, crackers, chips, and/or veggies and enjoy!

This was so delicious that I think I will be saying au revoir to frozen spinach and onion soup mix recipes! 

Spinach dip