Recently, we hosted a dinner party for guests who were doing Weight Watchers and because I don’t like to sabotage anyone’s journey to a healthy weight I decided to make the entire meal WW friendly and that meant putting my thinking cap on. Now I don’t know about you, but I adore guacamole, it’s so creamy, fresh and tangy and it really enhances a few dishes as a condiment but may also be used as a wonderful dip with fresh vegetables!
Now I know what many of you will say, “but wait, avocados are a good fat” and while that is very true, it’s all about balance and budget so if you can save a little here you can spend it there (perhaps on an extra glass of vino?), is all I’m saying!
Before I even searched on line, I had the idea of creating a mockamole from spinach. Why spinach? I chose spinach because #1 it’s a gorgeous green and you can purée it smooth uncooked and #2 it fits well into the WW point system. Once I determined what my basic ingredients would be, I started to search “mockamole” on the net and found that the majority of them are made with green peas. Now green peas are quite healthy but when I did the nutritional calculation using peas, my 1 tablespoon mockamole resulted in 1 WW point whereas my spinach mockamole resulted in 0 points for 1 tablespoon. So that was it.
Guacamole is a simple yet flavourful combination of ingredients and other than subbing out the avocado, I kept it pretty true to form. I used 4 tablespoons of cooked puréed navy beans as my ‘creamy’ ingredient and it worked out great. I loved the bright green colour as well as the bright flavours in this recipe. JT said it was an excellent substitute for real guacamole! It’s quite garlic-y so if it’s date night, you may wish to tone it down a notch or make sure your partner has some too ;-)!
Mockamole (Spinach ‘guacamole’)
Makes about 3/4 cup.
Ingredients:
- 100 g fresh spinach (may be frozen)
- 4 tbsp navy bean paste (see notes)
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) lime juice
- 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp green onion, finely chopped
- Cilantro or parsley for garnish
- Chopped tomatoes (optional)
Directions:
- If using frozen spinach, wring out well. If using fresh spinach, wash and dry well.
- Combine the spinach, navy bean paste, garlic, lime juice and cilantro in a small food processor and process until very smooth (I found my immersion blender did this beautifully). Fold in chopped tomatoes if you are adding them.
- Add chopped green onion and garnish with a sprig of cilantro. Serve with cucumber slices, celery sticks or cauliflower florets or use in a meal that requires guacamole as a condiment.
Notes:
- Navy bean purée: I usually make up a batch of plain navy beans for thickening soups, sauces and gravies and then freeze for later use. Cook navy beans in water without salt. Purée and press through a fine sieve. Allow to cool completely and put 1 tbsp portions into an ice cube tray (specifically for savoury things) and freeze. Once frozen, take each cube and put it into a larger ziplock bag and that way you have a creamy gluten-free thickening agent for future recipes.
- If you add too much liquid to the puréed spinach mix, strain for a couple of hours in a coffee filter reserved for savoury things before serving.
- To blanch spinach quickly, add spinach to a heat proof bowl with about 1/2 cup water and nuke for about 2-4 minutes until soft. Rince with cold water and wring out well.
[…] I know I’ve posted a guacamole recipe before (here and here) and even got flak for calling this one mocamole, but I thought I’d share a super simple rustic version made with the ripest avocado […]
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Hi Eva – the colour on this is just gorgeous. I wouldn’t say it’s quite true to a “traditional” avocado guacamole, but why should it be? It’s spinach after all and the colour is all the more deeper and richer. It looks so velvety too. That’s something for me to try… I wish I’d seen it before my dip extravaganza, but it’s never to late!
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Thanks so much Charles, it was very tasty — having all the traditional flavourings of guacamole but with marginal calories. I do hope you give it a try, I’d love to hear what you think.
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Well Eva, this is the closest I will ever get to guacamole, I am insanely allergic to the stuff now, I used to LOVE it, but rolling on the floor in excruciating pain type of allergy even if a few drops of avocado juice touches a leaf of lettuce prevents me from ever enjoying the stuff again. This is brilliant and a must try for me. Spring is here, seeds being put into the ground, before we know it there will be rows of spinach growing in our garden. I can hardly wait to try this. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
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Wow, that’s terrible Zsuzsa, I hope you give this recipe a try to bring back some lovely guacamole memories. The key is in the cooked beans to give it the creamy consistency that avocado has.
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Your friends are very fortunate to have a meal tailored just for them:) I love your version, the color is so much prettier and vibrant. I think a great side-benefit is you don’t have to worry about your dip have the discoloring/browning that an avocado guacamole has! xx
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Thanks so much Barbara, it was a beautiful, rich colour for sure.
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Your ingenuity in the kitchen never ceases to amaze me, Eva. Using spinach and navy beans to create “mock”amole is genius! Considering all of the dietary restrictions we need to be mindful of when entertaining, it’s good to have recipes like this one in your breast pocket. You’ll never know when it will come in handy. Remember when we all kept one of two GF recipes on hand? Now we all have a good number of them, and for every course of the meal. Your tip about cooking and keeping navy bean purée in the freezer is a good one. Like the GF recipes, you’ll never know when you’re going to need it. 🙂
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Thank you so much for your flattering words John. It’s true that society is becoming more and more intolerant of things we never even thought of back in the day. I adore puréed beans, they have such an amazing texture and can be flavoured any which way.
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now this is one of the most creative things ever. I love that you used spinach instead of avocado! AMAZING! I LOVE IT
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Thank so much Jessica.
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Eva, you are so inventive! I would never think of making a false guacamole with spinach. The colour is amazing and much more beautiful than avocados give. The navy bean purée sounds like an excellent idea too.
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Thank you so much Sissi, it was rather tasty too.
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This is a beautiful (and nutritive) dip in its own right. The color is so vibrant and I’m loving the look of the garnish. I like the way you use the bean to create some weight and bulk (it also increases the satiety factor). I’m all in favour of the garlicky character too 🙂 — very thoughtful of you to custom make a dish for your friends Eva. Did you use the base of terracotta pots as your serving dish here? Love!
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Hi Kelly, thank you for your kind words. I should have called the dip spinach and bean dip because some folks are quite taken a back that I dared to change the traditional guacamole! But you are right, it’s tasty and nutritive for sure no matter what it’s called!
Yes indeed I used glazed clay pots! I bought these about 20 years ago from Whiterose (remember that great craft and nursery?) because we were hosting fajita night and I thought it would be cool and fun…I have some that are about 25cm that we use as ‘dinner plates’ for Mexican. I probably wouldn’t keep food in it over night, but I’m sure for a dinner it’s fine.
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Eva, too funny! I just tweeted your lovely dip and wouldn’t you know it, I called it Spinach and Bean Dip 😉 — agreed, it’s a stand-alone! (no need to compare it to the beloved guac it will only enrage the masses – lol). My mom paints the interior of terracotta pots — she gave me one as a gift many years ago and it remains one of my most cherished possessions ♡. Love anything in the clay/earthenware family and your application here is perfect!
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Thank you kindly for the retweet, I saw it come up on my push notifications but I haven’t had a chance to check it on twitter. You should photograph one of your Mom’s pots and post it on the blog.
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Eva, that’s lovely of you to help them stick to their diet. I think it’s admirable and I bet they thanked you for it too! 😀
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What a thoughtful hostess you are. Your mockamole sounds wonderful!
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Thank you so much Cheri.
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You are very clever! I’d love to put my home grown spinach to good use in this recipe. What on earth are navy beans?
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Hi Liz, here is a link to a navy bean, a small, white bean that cooks up really creamy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_bean Home grown spinach would be incredible in it.
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Very clever. Love your navy beans puree tips, will be making a batch.
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Thanks Norma, hope your reno’s are going well. I’ll pop by your blog to see if there are any updates…have been super busy but I’ll tell you all about that soon.
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Glad to hear you are super busy, that’s wonderful. Looking forward to hearing about all your exciting ventures.
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Your mockamole with spinach and navy beans looks not only delicious, also very healthy!
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Thank you kindly Angie, it was tasty indeed.
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Wow, your spinach guac is gorgeous!!! And guilt free…love that even more!!!
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Thanks so much Liz, I really love the colour too.
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Looks great! I love avocado guac so I don’t think I am ready to make the switch, but if I do, I will try this. Nice tip on the navy bean puree. I’m going low gluten so that would be a great substitute for flour.
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It seems that there are many people with the same view…so why don’t we just rename the dip as spinach dip? The pureed beans are an excellent substitution as a thickener, particularly the navy beans are very, very creamy.
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Mmmm…sounds yum. I love creamy things….perhaps a little too much!
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Such pretty flowers. As someone else commented, there’s nothing better than an avocado guac so I’m a little hesitant about the spinach version but who knows. 🙂
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I suspect if I had named it spinach dip I likely would not have received the backlash on authentic guacamole as I actually did (well, it was very subtle backlash). I may just have to change the name…
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Perhaps that’s the case though I’ve never made spinach dip either … but I think the ones I’ve seen have had various cheeses including cream cheese in them. Now that I think of it, that sounds very tasty. 🙂
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How dare you corrupt my beloved guac with spinach!!! 😉
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Yes but Liz might enjoy this version and it would leave the authentic avocado version just for you!
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You are so thoughtful. That’s so considerate of you, Eva. I love the look of your mockamole – so vibrantly green and pretty xx
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Thank you kindly Charlie, it was surprisingly satisfying too.
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You are always such a thoughtful hostess when having dinner guests. I’m sure your friends appreciated your efforts.
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Thank you kindly Karen.
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