I've been on a mission lately to make half of my food intake be fruits and vegetables. I mean, I know that - as a vegan - most of our food is plants, but damn if I don't go a day or two sometimes without eating a decent serving of vegetables! Noodles, rice, processed foods, etc. always end up on my plate. Well, I went to Costco and stocked the fuck up, determined to eat all the wonderful produce I bought... which included two very large bags of spinach. I mean, they're comically large because they're the actual size of my torso.
After staring at massive amounts of spinach for a few days, my brain said, "spinach and artichoke dip!" No, no, that's just an excuse to eat chips. I couldn't stop thinking about it, though. I swear, there were literally no other thoughts in my head except spinach and artichoke dip. Then I walked by my pasta stash and I knew what had to be done.
Now you know my thought process for when I inevitably start a series where I turn dips into pasta dishes. Suggestions welcome.
Serving size: 6-8
Prep and cooking time: 35 minutes
Cashew Sauce
2 cups of cashews
3 cups of water
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
juice of 2 limes
1 tsp no chicken bouillon
Ingredients
1 box of your favorite pasta
1 medium sweet onion
2 cups of marinated artichokes
6 cups of raw spinach
cashew sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
I highly recommend soaking your cashews for at least 20 minutes, even if you have a high speed blender. Rinse soaked cashews thoroughly and add them to blender with other ingredients for the sauce. Blend until smooth.
Boil water and cook pasta as directed.
Sautee your onions in some of the marinade from the artichokes for a few minutes until slightly translucent, then add your minced garlic, artichokes, and spinach.
Once 6 cups of spinach practically disappears, add in the cooked pasta and cashew sauce. Stir on low heat until combined. You might need to add another half cup or so of water if the sauce thickens too much.
Stir in dried herbs and crushed red pepper flakes. Give it a taste and add salt and pepper as desired.