This dairy-free, paleo-friendly spinach and artichoke dip is creamy, flavorful, easy-to-make and sure to be a crowd favorite.

This past week the weather has been absolutely frigid. My parent’s house, while only an hour northeast of Los Angeles, is at a much higher elevation. And that translates to colder temps. Even snow…yes, snow in LA County (not even joking). So I’ve had to make a few emergency trips to my brother’s house in Orange County to defrost in the “normal” 70 degree Cali weather.

When it’s this cold outside, all I do is dream of warm-weather destinations. And right now, I’ve got Portugal on the brain. Want to know why? ‘Cause I’m going to Portugal in May! And I’m ridiculously excited.

The impetus for my trip is to attend a 4-day food photography workshop hosted by Marta and Sanda – two stellar food photographers who I admire. In the last 6 months (since learning to shoot RAW) I’ve become absolutely smitten with food photography and want to learn, absorb and soak-up every ounce of wisdom from those way more “pro” than me. But let’s be honest, eating good food and drinking wine in the Portuguese countryside with a group of fun, like-minded people…yeah, that was the clincher.

I’ll be doing healthy travel research for Portugal over the next couple of months, but if you have any tips, to-do’s or must-see’s…let me know. I may even stay longer and toodle around the country for a while (where “may” = 95% likely). You know me and slow travel.

This trip also means I need to get better at the whole recipe development planning thing – and soon. Other food bloggers have content calendars weeks (if not months) in advance – knowing exactly what recipes they’re going to post and when. Me, I whip stuff up as the mood strikes. Case in point: this dairy-free, paleo spinach artichoke dip.

Yesterday I made this recipe on a bit of a whim and not to brag, but it’s crazy good. I wasn’t sure if a dairy-free version of a spinach and artichoke dip was possible…but when it came out creamy, garlicky and perfect on the first attempt, you know you’ve got a winner. My mom, who isn’t dairy-free even thought it was the bomb. So how does it get creamy? Soaked cashews and my homemade mayonnaise which turns into the most luscious, creamy mixture.

This recipe makes quite a bit of dip – 4 cups worth – but you always need a ton for a party, right? And if you have too much, freeze half and save it for the following week. I’m not 100% dairy-free (I consider myself dairy-light) – so I decided to add a little bit of goat cheese to half the batch. And I’m not gonna lie – it’s divine! If you do eat small amounts of dairy, I highly recommend the goat cheese. But either way, this spinach and artichoke dip is unbelievably good…especially with my herbed cassava tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

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