Tom Saaristo Tom’s Cold Spinach Dip w. King’s Hawaiian Bread

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Tom’s Cold Spinach Dip w. King’s Hawaiian Bread

This is my take on the classic cold spinach dip made with Knorr’s Vegetable Soup and Recipe mix. I’m not a huge fan of water chestnuts [de rigueur in the original recipe] and have replaced them with shredded jícama*, which provides the contrast in texture, but too a level of sweetness that matches with the King’s Hawaiian Bread with which I always serve this [too, though, blue corn tortilla chips are a nice alternative]. I also add a little bit of richness by substituting some of the sour cream with crème fraîche.

Properly made this dip is deceptively light, but as you can see, there is plenty of fat and calories here.

This recipe is doubled and therefore great for a party. Four loaves of King’s Hawaiian Bread for this amount of Spinach Dip is just about perfect. Cube the bread and store it in the bread bags the loaves come in [discarding the metal pan]. During the party you can replenish the bread basket simply by opening a bag and pouring it in.

For serving, I like to take out my biggest wooden salad bowl, put the bowl with the dip in the middle and put the cubed bread in the salad bowl around the bowl with the dip.

Ingredients
2 10 oz. box frozen, chopped spinach [thawed, drained and squeezed dry of all excess moisture]
1 cup best-quality sour cream
1 cup crème fraîche [available at specialty markets and some grocery stores or make your own]
2 cups Hellmann’s or Best Foods mayonnaise [no substitution]
1 cup finely grated jícama
2 [1.4oz.] Knorr brand vegetable soup and recipe mix

Method
Combine spinach with sour cream, crème fraîche, mayonnaise, jícama, and vegetable soup mix. Mix all ingredients together well. Cover. Chill at least 2 hours to blend flavors [I often make this first thing in the morning before an evening party].

Remove from refrigerator and stir well before serving with cubed King’s Hawaiian Bread or blue corn tortilla chips.

* Often referred to as the Mexican potato, jícama is a large, bulbous root vegetable with a thin brown skin and white crunchy flesh. Its sweet, nutty flavor is good both raw and cooked. Jícama is available from November through May and can be purchased in Mexican markets and most large supermarkets. It should be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag and will last for about 2 weeks. The thin skin should be peeled just before using. When cooked, jícama retains its crisp, water chestnut – type texture.