Spinach-Artichoke Dip With Sweet Potato Mayo

I grew up in a small industrial town in West Bengal, India, where, in the 80's  Mayo was a fancy ingredient to cook with. in fact as far as i remember the Mayo bottles did not make their appearance in the featured cupboards of our grocery store till the mid 90's. but that never stopped my mom from trying out the dishes using Mayonnaise which she used to bookmark from her collection of cookbooks and magazines. she simply made her own fresh mayo every time she needed it. and that was the only mayo that i knew of  while i was growing up. her mayo with boiled potato, eggs, mustard sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and a FULL cup of oil. MMM...mmm it was delicious and made her dishes, specially her macaroni so special... so.. even when the commercial Mayo started flooding the local stores, at home we stuck to her  recipe. it was that good. and i am sure you'll do the same once you have tasted it..

anyhow when i started cooking, to cut down on the calorie count, i substituted a thing or two and made my own mayo recipe. which is, if i may say so, as delicious. substituting potatoes with sweet potatoes  helped me cut down on the added sugar a bit, replacing eggs with Greek yogurt changed the taste but made it an eggless mayo which i could serve to my MIL and i heavily cut down on the oil for i thought 1 FULL CUP was way too much.... so that is how the Spinach-Artichoke dip with Sweet Potato Mayo came into being... We had it in our sandwich along with cucumbers and olives and it tasted darn good. Even Mr MN who has a thing against Artichokes said it was good. and believe me he is not one of those who are loose with their compliments.  so a dish really has to be good to score points with him... and this one did :)

since this was my first experience of cooking with artichokes, i found this pictorial tutorial of how to prepare artichoke hearts useful. the rest of the recipe was a mere simple adaption from this one. now over to the recipe...

Recipe Adapted from here.

ingredients

1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed

2 artichoke hearts, chopped

1/4 cup cream cheese

1 cup Parmesan Cheese

2 cloves of garlic, grated

homemade sweet potato mayonnaise

for the Sweet Potato Mayonnaise

1/2 cup boiled sweet potato

2 teaspoons mustard sauce

3 tablespoons Greek Yogurt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

2 teaspoons of sugar

salt to taste

5 teaspoons olive  oil

what i did. 

• i preheated  the oven to 375 degrees F.
• then adding all the ingredients for the mayo, except olive oil, in the blender i pureed them. then  whipped the mixture while gradually adding the olive oil into it until it achieved a creamy consistency. that was my mayo.
• i then combined the mayo with the rest of the ingredients and put the mixture to bake for 20-30 minutes.

now that the dip was ready, i diced my olives and cucumber...

sandwiched them between slices of home-baked peasant bread spread with the spinach artichoke dip, toasted the sandwich in the sandwich maker...

and served and relished every bite of the sandwich with our bowl of Minestrone.....

Sometimes the simplest recipes strike the note with you... don't you think  :)

Happy Cooking and Bon Appetite !!

Sending the second photograph to Colour Me Black , a photography challenge series at The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen

and sharing the recipe with...

 Bon Vivant #13 - Kids Delight @ Sumee's Culinary Bites, Bake Fest #17 @ Cooks Joy hosted by A Homemaker's Diary, 

Saturday Dishes:  Saturday Dishes – All Things Easter @  Call Me PMC , The Tumbleweed Contessa , Hammock Tracks

Frugal:

Tuesday Frugal Tip @ Learning the Frugal Life

Wednesday Frugal Days Sustainable Ways @ Frugally Sustainable

Monday Food:
Meal Plan Monday Organizing Junkie
Menu Monday @ Erin Branscom
Menu Plan Linky @ Susie Q Melt in Your Mouth Monday @ Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms

On the Menu Monday @ Stone Gable
Manic Monday Linky Party @ Serendipity & Spice
The Bulletin Board @ Mrs Happy Homemaker
Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks
Recipe Sharing Monday @ Jam Hands
Mealtime Monday @ Couponing & Cooking 

Clever Chicks Blog Hop @ The Chicken Chick
Mop it up Monday @ I should be Mopping the Floor
Meatless Monday:

Meatless Monday @Veggie Mama's 

 Meatless Monday My Sweet and Savory
Just Another Meatless Monday @ Hey What's for Dinner Mom

Tuesday Food:
Hearth & Soul Blog Hop @ Premeditated Leftovers
Tempt my Tummy @Blessed with GraceTotally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box
Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations 
Traditional Tuesdays @ Cooking Traditional Foods
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ SS& GS
Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home
Tasty Tuesday @ 33 Shades of Green
Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training
Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings
Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles
Wednesday Food:
What's Cooking Wednesday @ Confessions of Overworked Mom
Wholesome Foods Wednesday @ This Chick Can Cook
Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain 
 Wednesday Whatsit @White Lights on Wednesday Fresh Foods Wednesdays @ Gastronomical Sovereignty
Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom
Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2
Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's Network
Wednesday Extravaganza @ Hunger Little Girl
Thursday Food:Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive
Creative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty Creations
Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs
Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity
Tasty Thursdays @ The Mandatory Mooch

Thursday's Treasures @ Chocolate, Chocolate & more
Pin it Thursday @ Sweet Bella Roos
Freedom Friday @ My Turn

Friday Food:
Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple
Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home
Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes
Friday Favorite Finds @ Finding Joy in my Kitchen
Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm 
I Freakin' Did it Friday @ Miss Information
Friday Food Fight @ Run DMT
Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss
Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts 
Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club