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Basil and Artichoke Dip

December 21, 2014

Basil and Artichoke Dip made with blended cashews and nutritional yeast instead of mayonnaise and cheese! The perfect appetizer or dip recipe. Plus it’s Dairy-Free!

This is attempt #2 at writing this post. A rarity for my typical train-of-thought posts, but when I originally sat down to write absolutely nothing came out. I’m hoping round #2 goes better…

Basil and Artichoke Dip made with blended cashews and nutritional yeast instead of mayonnaise and cheese! The perfect appetizer or dip recipe.Admittedly, posts are never hard for me to write. With the exception of the personal ones that can take upwards of 6 months to get down, I’ve had maybe 1 or 2 writer’s block moments.  All in all the writing aspect has never felt particularly difficult to me. That is until I sat down to write this Basil and Artichoke Dip post.

I knew that my struggles in getting the words out had nothing to do with the actual post and more to do with the struggles I was having that day so in a rare moment of insight I actually stepped away from the screen and decided to tackle something else.

What was plan b, you may ask? I stress cleaned.

Basil and Artichoke Dip made with blended cashews and nutritional yeast instead of mayonnaise and cheese! The perfect appetizer or dip recipe.If you’ve known me for a long time or have lived with me, you know that back in the day I used to be a hardcore proponent of stress cleaning aka “I’m so overwhelmed that the only thing I can think to do in this moment is clean”. If my roommates came home to find me scrubbing the bathtub they knew something was up. Of course, no one ever complained because cleaning instead of discussing your emotions certainly isn’t the worst problem to have but it was somewhat concerning when I found myself colour-coordinating my sweaters.

Over time (and much to C’s dismay) I seemed to have grown out of my stress cleaning ways. I’ve gotten better at talking through my problems and have found relief in other activities, but for whatever reason I found myself giving my apartment one serious scrub-down last Thursday.

Basil and Artichoke Dip made with blended cashews and nutritional yeast instead of mayonnaise and cheese! The perfect appetizer or dip recipe.Surprisingly, it actually helped. Not only did I end up feeling productive and clean, but it also calmed my nerves about this recipe. I totally love this dip, but anytime I use nutritional yeast I worry that people will be intimated or overwhelmed my such a strange ingredient. While I don’t think nooch is all that weird, I can see how other people might.

Perhaps my fears are warranted, but after cleaning through my cupboards and finding things like goat’s milk whey and dulse flakes I feel like nutritional yeast ain’t so strange after all! It also felt amazing to purge of my 8000 samples of protein powders and stupidly large collection of alternative sweeteners. So much so I was able to sit down and write this post.

Sometimes all it takes is a little winter cleaning to refresh the soul!

Print

Basil and Artichoke Dip {Dairy-Free}

  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 cup 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 cup cashews, soaked in water for 2 hours
  • 1 T soaking water
  • 6 artichoke hearts, chopped (1 14 oz can)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, unpacked
  • 2 T nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • splash of lemon juice
  • pinch of chili flakes (optional)

Instructions

  1. Add cashews and 1 T of soaking water to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Add in artichoke hearts and garlic cloves and process until smooth.
  3. Add in fresh basil, nutritional yeast, sea salt, and lemon juice and process for 30 more seconds or until basil has been broken up.
  4. Top with chili flakes and serve with “dippers” of choice e.g. crackers, vegetables, chips.
  5. Will keep for several days in the refrigerator.

Basil and Artichoke Dip made with blended cashews and nutritional yeast instead of mayonnaise and cheese! The perfect appetizer or dip recipe. Plus it's Dairy-Free!Are you a stress-cleaner? What’s the strangest ingredient in your house?

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  • Reply
    Heather Mason
    January 12, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    oh man, I wish I cleaned when I was stressed. At least you are being productive! so much better than scarfing food to cope. Anyway, I’m really excited for this recipe because I have nutritional yeast and leftover cashew sauce that I don’t know what to do with! Problem solved! making this tonight!

    • Reply
      The Healthy Maven
      January 12, 2016 at 2:00 pm

      Perfect! I know you’ll love it 🙂 It’s also great to thin out with water as a salad dressing or to top on pretty much anything! Hope you enjoy 🙂

  • Reply
    Meghan@CleanEatsFastFeets
    December 27, 2014 at 10:34 pm

    I’m a fan of anything with artichokes in it. Great hangover cure too.

    Total stress cleaner here. It makes me feel warm, fuzzy and in control of something so it works for me. I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with color coordinating things, not that I would know from personal experience (cough, cough).

  • Reply
    Azu
    December 23, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    I have been looking for a healthy dip for an appetizer for the Christmas dinner, love this idea! Pinned!

    • Reply
      Davida Kugelmass
      December 23, 2014 at 3:47 pm

      Thanks Azu! I made it with the intention of serving it around Christmastime 🙂 I think it’ll be my New Years eve app! Happy Holidays!

  • Reply
    Chelsea @ Chelsea's Healthy Kitchen
    December 23, 2014 at 8:13 am

    I’m not so much a stress cleaner as I am a procrastinating cleaner. During exam period in university, my apartment was always spotless haha.

  • Reply
    GiselleR @ Diary of an ExSloth
    December 23, 2014 at 12:03 am

    I totes feel ya on the nooch. I used it in one of my recipes last week and I had 3 people (including my mummy) message me to say it looked awesome and they were gonna attempt it, until they spied the nutritional yeast on the package.
    Since I’m home, I’ll be making it for my mother in an attempt to turn her into a nooch lover. Wish me luck

  • Reply
    Ange @ Cowgirl Runs
    December 22, 2014 at 4:27 pm

    Anytime it was exam time my house would be so freaking clean. And I’d have so much baking. Definitely a stress cleaner here.
    LOVE the idea of the cashew base here, I must try it!!

  • Reply
    Laura B
    December 22, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    I am totally a stress cleaner well more like a procrastinator cleaner. When I was in school, I would find myself cleaning my room/apt/kitchen when I was stressed/didn’t want to my work. My belief was that a cluttered desk is a cluttered mind so I couldn’t possibly do work will all this clutter. While to a degree I still think that’s true, instead of only spending 15 minutes cleaning, I’d spend hours. This recipe also looks amazing, I love nooch!

  • Reply
    Julia
    December 22, 2014 at 11:04 am

    You know I have writer’s block when my apartment is clean, so I hear ya sister! It’s so hard to break…but sometimes coming out of writer’s block is one of my most creative times. And canIjustsay: I’m so jealous you don’t get writer’s block often – happens to me on the reg!!! This dip looks fantastic! Bring on them artichokes!! Perfect for sharing with my family this week 🙂

  • Reply
    Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves
    December 22, 2014 at 12:36 am

    Mmm this dip looks and sounds absolutely delicious! Nutritional yeast and all (even though I don’t think I’ve ever tried nutritional yeast! I just see it in recipes so often that I think it’s normal?).
    I really should stress clean when I’m…stressed. I like to bake when I’m stressed, but cleaning would probably be a lot more productive in the long haul.
    You probably don’t want to know the weirdest ingredient in our house because we’re Asian and we use some funky fresh stuff in our cooking 😉

  • Reply
    Kelly @ Kelly Runs for Food
    December 21, 2014 at 9:39 pm

    I’m such a stress cleaner! I’ve been known to come home from work and vacuum in my suit and heels because I just can’t relax until I feel like something is in order, and the house is an easy solution. Also, that dip sounds amazing. 🙂

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