Get your licking finger ready! This is that kind of recipe.
If you have visited my blog, you may have guessed that I’m a fan of color. While the rest of the nation is cheering for a football team this weekend, I’ll be doing cartwheels at the sight of a bright orange clinging to my backyard tree, or a happy lime basking on a sun-soaked branch.
When I buy groceries, if there’s a choice between a pale potato or a purple one, I choose purple. If there’s a barely green apple or a blood red one, I choose the latter. My basket and my menus typically look like something a unicorn and a 6-year-old helped me paint—full of bright, joyful color!
Word on the street is that these colorful foods are good for me, too. Yet, what really matters is that it all tastes as good as it looks!
This recipe is kid-tested. I made it with students in my food literacy class this week, hoping to inspire them to eat something a little bit healthier during the Big Game. After telling me that this sounded “nasty,” and that they didn’t like green onions, every last kid gobbled this up and asked me for seconds. The teachers each ate second helpings, too.
So, bring out the chips to dip this into. Or, spread it on a fish taco. Or, do what my husband does—lick it up by the fingers full!
Spinach Dip or Cilantro Salsa Recipe
This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks: Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero. This is adapted from her “So Good, So Green Dipping Sauce.”
Ingredients:
1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, quartered and stems removed
1 large clove garlic, peeled
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Juice from one lime
1/4 of a large head of romaine lettuce, roughly chopped, tough ends removed
1 large handful of spinach leaves
1 cup cilantro leaves
3 whole green onions, roughly chopped, roots removed
Salt to taste
Farmers market ingredients: jalapeno, garlic, olive oil, lime, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, green onion
Supermarket ingredients: mayonnaise, salt
Combine all of the above ingredients in a food processor until well blended and creamy. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Yield: 2 cups sauce
Tips: This sauce makes a great chip dip for tortilla chips. It’s also fantastic on fish tacos.
You can find this and other great recipes on Punk Domestics!
