Lightened Spinach Dip
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Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: Approx 3 c
 
Ingredients
  • 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed (or cooked fresh spinach, 1½ - 2 c after cooking)
  • 1 medium carrot, grated
  • ½ c fresh grated parmesan
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • 1 c Greek yogurt (I used fat free)
  • 1 c sour cream (I used fat free)
  • ½ c mayo (I used Just Mayo, you could sub in a reduced fat variety)
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 - 2 tsp honey
  • Optional: 8 oz can of water chestnuts, drained and chopped
Instructions
  1. Press the extra liquid out of the spinach (I placed the spinach in a fine mesh sieve and pressed down to get most of the liquid out. I'm a little paranoid, so I then placed it between several sheets of paper towel and pressed the remaining liquid out.) and the shredded carrot (I placed between several sheets of paper towel and pressed the liquid out.).
  2. Transfer the spinach and carrots to a bowl. Using a fork, separate out the pieces of spinach and carrot until it's in small pieces. Add the parmesan, garlic, onion powder, yogurt, sour cream, mayo, and Worcestershire. Add salt and pepper according to your preferences.
  3. To alleviate some of the yogurt tanginess, stir in 1 tsp of honey. Taste and add an additional tsp if it's still a little tangy. You don't want to add enough to make it sweet, just to take away the tang.
  4. Stir in the water chestnuts, if using.
  5. I recommend making this dip in advance and refrigerating for 30 minutes to overnight before serving.
  6. Serve with a veggie tray and/or pumpernickel bread.
Notes
To keep the dip vegetarian, make sure you are using vegetarian Worcestershire sauce. Also keep an eye out for gelatin in reduced fat/fat free dairy products.
Serving size is a generous ¼ c (12 total servings). If you have a large spread of appetizers, a more realistic serving size would be 2 tbsp. per person (24 servings at about 50 calories each). Nutritional estimate uses fat free yogurt, fat free sour cream, and full fat mayo.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: ¼ c Calories: 100 Fat: 5 Carbohydrates: 9 Fiber: 1 Protein: 5
Recipe by Hidden Fruits and Veggies at https://www.hiddenfruitsandveggies.com/2014/11/17/lightened-spinach-dip/