Spinach

At Sunflower Market on Monday I bought some different lettuces and spinach, intending to make a great salad for dinner one night. Sadly I didn't get around to it till Thursday, by which time the lettuces were all slimy and gross. So we ate just a spinach salad, but I can't eat just plain spinach salads all that often, so I decided to experiment with making my own spinach dip. Plus I had a bag of Trader Joe's Pita Chips that had outlived the last batch of hummus, and I figured they needed something to be dipped in!

So I wilted the spinach in a large skillet with a little oil, put it in my food processor, and then added bits of this and that till it seemed like a good consistency, and was a lovely verdant shade of green. (Come to think of it--I've made two very green things in my food processor this week, including the asparagus puree from the tart the other night).

I put the mixture in a fondue pot and let it heat up for about an hour. It was tasty, but a little thinner than I would've liked, and maybe a wee bit bland. I think what it needed was maybe some plain yogurt to thicken it, but I didn't have any on hand. I thought about adding a few red pepper flakes to give it a bit more of a kick, but then I was worried that the red bits might look weird in the green creaminess, so I refrained. I'm thinking for dinner tonight it might actually make a really nice pesto-y spread on top of a crusty baguette, with some roasted red and yellow bell pepper strips on top: trop delicieux!

Anyway, here is the recipe as is, although I may tweak it a bit if I try it again:

Spinach Dip

2 tsp oil
8 cups spinach
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
6 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
4 tbsp sour cream

Heat the oil in a large skillet, saute eight cups of spinach until slightly wilted. (I had to do this in two batches, because my skillet was not large enough to hold eight cups at once!)

Place spinach in food processor. Add 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, six tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese, and 4 tablespoons sour cream. Process until it's a nice thick puree. Scrape down sides, and process again, this time adding salt to taste. (I added 1/4 teaspoon.) Place mixture in a small saucepan over low heat, or in a fondue pot or small crockpot. Cook it on a very low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn't get a crust on the top. It will thin out as it heats. Serve with pita chips, veggies, or other dippable items.

Makes about two cups worth of dip, and according to my calculations a two ounce serving has 86 calories.