Shocking Spinach Dip Discovery
Posted by terrepruitt on December 24, 2013
For many it is Christmas Eve. Some might not celebrate Christmas or it is past the day, but here, where I am, it is Christmas Eve. It is Tuesday so normally I would have had a Nia class in the morning, but the Park and Recreation Department of San Jose took the day off so there was no Nia this morning. They also have instituted a very abbreviated Group Ex schedule so my Nia classes with the City of San Jose are done for the year. We will be back Thursday, January 2, 2014. (WHOA! 2014!) I have one more Nia class in Willow Glen this year and one more class this year that I am subbing for the YMCA. Then onto the next year! So today I had a very relaxing Christmas Eve Day. Probably thee most relaxing Christmas Eve Day I have had in a LONG time. It was nice. One thing I had to do today was make spinach dip. In my world this is a common party treat. I have been making it for as long as I can remember. Although I had not made it in a long time. I think I first heard about spinach dip when I worked at my first mortgage job in the mid ’80s. So that is a long time. Spinach dip seems pretty common and timeless.
One thing I notice over Thanksgiving when I made a quadruple batch was that the recipe calls for a 10 ounce package of frozen spinach. Well our big green friend now makes his frozen spinach in 9 ounces sizes. I thought that was funny. Then today as I happened to be READING the recipe I noticed something that had me saying, “WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!” The directions actually say to COOK the spinach. I have never heard of such a thing. I have NEVER cooked the spinach. And as I mentioned I have been making spinach dip for YEARS. Cook the spinach? Really?
I prefer the Knorr Vegetable soup mix. But one year I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE and I ended up with the SPRING Vegetable mix and that was awesome because it had mushrooms in it. Now I can’t find that. I have also used other soup mix and have not been as happy as when I use Knorr. But this “cooked” really made me laugh out loud. Here is the recipe I am sure many of you are familiar with:
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Knorr Spinach Dip
Ingredients
1 box (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, cooked, cooled and squeezed dry
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
1 package Knorr® Vegetable recipe mix
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)
3 green onions, chopped (optional)
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours. Serve with your favorite dippers to your favorite people.
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Also, for me, the water chestnuts are NOT optional! They are a requirement. In fact, to me, the are the best part. If you watch me getting some spinach dip you will probably see me pushing my cracker/bread/veggie through the dish just trying to get at that chunk of chestnut.
In addition to the change in weight of the spinach they also now package it in a plastic, which helped when squeezing the water out. After I squeeze the spinach it is all clumped together so I use forks to pull it a part.
So I have two main questions for you:
1) Do you COOK your spinach?
2) How do you squeeze all the water out of the frozen spinach? To me that is the worst part.
Let me know because I am soooooo curious.
And to all I say:
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
Joan Meyer said
I LOVE LOVE spinach dip!!! I often double the water chestnuts!! I do not cook.. just defrost the spinach…. push it into a strainer to drain. I also lighten the dip by replacing some of the mayo, sour cream with yogurt!! I do that to sooooo many things! yuuummm… and happy holidays!!
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terrepruitt said
OH YAY! Look who’s here. I am so glad you commented because I having been thinking about you and wanted to e-mail you, but the second I get on my computer I forget . . . . I get so busy on this thing. With so much going on it seems like I am updating my website daily!
You are a girl after my own heart with the doubling of the water chestnuts! Awesome! I think I tried the strainer once and I can’t remember if I liked it. Today I thought it was in the dishwasher so I didn’t bother. I think my family would boycott my dip if I used yogurt. I will have to try it at a time when I am prepared to it the whole batch it need be!
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you, Dear. I hope you are doing well. I have been thinking about you. I am hoping you will join us for the next session of Yoga! Hugs to you!
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Joan Meyer said
marry and happy day today!!
if you just replace some of the mayo/sour cream.. probably no one will know! that’s what i do… not all of it!
thanks again! i’m hiking again!
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terrepruitt said
I might try it. We know when my mom using light mayo and sour cream. 🙂
YAY! I am so glad you are hiking again!!!!!
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daniel said
I have never made this for my family so if I just made it with yogurt, they would never know it shoulda been diff.! hee-hee
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terrepruitt said
Diana – Right. They would never know the difference. Are you thinking about using JUST yogurt or substituting the yogurt for one of the other fats? Let me know what you think of it. Since it is a dip and not something like a main entree or even a side dish I don’t feel that using full fat mayonnaise and sour cream is a big deal. One just has a few tablespoons and that is usually it. Thanks for commenting. Oh, and this is how I started eating spinach! Spinach dip was my “gateway” to spinach!
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diana said
ooops, Diana posted above, not Daniel!
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terrepruitt said
🙂 You’re so cute!
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John Pruitt said
Can you put a picture up of finished product? I find that your spinach dip is the whole package. Taste and looks.
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terrepruitt said
Hmmm. I think that means you want me to make more so that I have a “finished product” to photograph?
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Michele said
Ok, so as usual, late for the party!! I never cook the spinach, I use a dish towel to drain the spinach (Rachael Ray) I like the idea of doubling the water chestnuts! Mmmmm, yummy dip!
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terrepruitt said
You party animal you. Off partying with the family! I looked at an old package and it does not include the “cooked” part. I am thinking that maybe the “cooked” was introduced after that “bad” spinach that we had not too long ago . . . E Coli? Ya know which one I am talking about (but not doing a good job of talking about it)? I tried a dish towel once, but I didn’t want it to remain GREEN! I like the idea of doubling the chestnuts too! Joan is full of great ideas. I was lucky to have met her.
Love and miss you my friend. Hopefully we can talk tomorrow (Thursday / I don’t have an evening class yet) or Friday)? Happy New Year! MUAH!
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