This fresh basil spread is a healthy snack choice to serve at your next party or to pack in your lunches for the week! Serve with your favorite bread, crackers, or veggies.
Updated images and recipes from a couple of years ago! I love this recipe and wanted to bring it out of the archives.
If there is one thing Kyle requests when we’re thinking about throwing a party…
…it’s this fresh basil spread.
Not like we’ve been throwing many parties lately, but we HAVE had a lot of visitors in town. Consequently, we’ve been having some cookouts to entertain and naturally we have lots of snacks! And now that my raw veggie cravings are back in action (I could NOT stomach raw veggies while pregnant!), I’m all about having some delicious snack dips ready to go when we need them.
This is a recipe I recreated with inspiration from Eatzi’s. I first had the Eatzi’s fresh basil spread a long time ago. A friend brought it over, and I immediately clung to the bowl (with my claws and barely wanted to share) and vowed to recreate this recipe independently. And, of course, I needed to use some healthier ingredients! The Eatzi’s version was made with sour cream. So, duh—in walks, my good friend Greek yogurt. And some cream cheese because that makes life better too. And what’s a party without some cheese?
A Paleo party, probably.
I’ve made this for years and years and years (Ok, only like 2.5 years) and just finally thought about adding something to give it color. Don’t worry, anything artificial! The last time I decided to throw in some spinach to give it an even greener color. The fresh basil does give it a tint, but adding spinach made it much more vibrant. And we like colors around here because that means we’re eating our veggies! Yay! Although this definitely wouldn’t count as a veggie itself…sorry, folks.
Sadly this is one of the rare events I actually cook with fresh herbs. When we buy them, we typically don’t go through them fast enough since we food prep so much for the week. And they’re not as cheap as the seasonings you can store in the pantry. Maybe I should make it an effort to cook with them more often? Or maybe I should start trying to grow some of my own…though I don’t trust my dogs not to eat them. Or me to keep them alive. It could still be worth a shot, I suppose! After all, food does taste better when you grow it yourself, right?
Now if I could only figure out how to grow Greek yogurt… 😉
If you DO make this, you’ll probably want a food processor. It’ll make your life muuuch much easier! I use this Kitchen Aid food processor, and I love it!
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Fresh Basil Spread
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
Description
This fresh basil spread is a healthy snack choice to serve at your next party or to pack in your lunches for the week! Serve with your favorite bread, crackers, or veggies.
Ingredients
- 10–12 fresh basil leaves
- 2 handfuls of spinach (optional)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 8 oz low fat cream cheese
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Add basil, spinach, garlic and olive oil to the food processor. Pulse for 1-2 minutes.
- Add Greek yogurt and half of cream cheese. Process on low until cream cheese is mixed.
- Add seasonings, and remaining cream cheese. Process until an even consistency is achieved.
Notes
1 serving is 1 Weight Watchers point.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Category: Appetizer
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 46
- Sugar: 1.4
- Sodium: 90.3
- Fat: 3.1
- Saturated Fat: 1.7
- Unsaturated Fat: 7
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.4
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2.3
- Cholesterol: 0.6
DO YOU OFTEN COOK WITH FRESH HERBS? EVER EATEN AT EATZI’S?
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