Tag Archives: appetizer

White Bean Garlic Dip

I recently discovered a love for cannellini beans. They created an ‘aha!’ moment in my brain: you don’t necessarily need heavy whipping cream to make things creamy. “Thank you!!” cried my bottom. “Thank you,” cried my thighs. “Thank you!” cried my left ventricle. Seriously–puree some of these babies, and you could fool your own grandma with this creamy asparagus soup or this cilantro lime bean soup.

Anyway, when I saw this simple dip recipe that uses cannellini beans as its main ingredient, I grinned and put it on the menu. Me and those beans, we got an understandin,’ see. It’s a winner, and the fact that my old friend ‘garlic’ was also a main feature only strengthened my resolve to make it.

By the way, if you’re into the whole food blogging scene you should really take a few minutes to browse through Tracy’s blog, Sugarcrafter. She’s got great stuff on there, from this winning dip to Margarita Bars to Jambalaya to everything you could think of making with Nutella, her recent obsession.

Nutella . . . yes, it was also my obsession in Paris 7 years ago, and it led to some really, really embarassing pictures that I absolutely can’t share.

Okay, fine. I’ll share.

Phew–am I ever glad to be out of my late teens/early twenties! They taught me the meaning of ‘bacne,’ a horrible word which I shall never ever again repeat crossmyhearthopetodie, pokeyourmotherintheeye. I also realized in very recent years that plastering my hair against my head in a shrinkwrapped version of the bun was not an extremely attractive way to fix my hair. One day I’ll share a picture-based history of my hairdos and by the end you’ll be scratching your scalp and pulling our your eyebrows–it’s bad. And it will cause you physical and emotional pain to walk through it with me.

Alright, enough about my misspent hair-youth, and on to the main feature!

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cups olive oil
1 TBS lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Drain and rinse the can of beans to get rid of that nasty thick viscous liquid . . .

Aah, much better. Though please ignore the dirty dishes in the background. I don’t know who they belong to . . . but they’re definitely not mine. Nope. I don’t recognize a single one of those perps.

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Those of you without a food processor (present company included) toss it all in a blender.

Yeah, I didn’t bother to mince the garlic. And I used 6 cloves instead of 2–you would do well to do the same. I regularly triple the garlic in recipes–it’s Who I Am.

Blend or process until combined.

I liked the fact that my blender left some chunks–I like a dip with texture.

Serve it with crostini (or any kind of tiny toast), pita chips, flatbread, crackers, or just scoop it out with your finger. I know I did.

This dip is seriously delicious. Garlicky, lemony, not too spicy but definitely with heaps of flavor. And did anyone see how easy that was to make? Tracy, you’re a genius.

I loved encountering random unprocessed beans, such as this little guy:

I should also point out that I had garlic breath all night long . . . and I woke up with more garlic breath. I breathed it all over my husband when I gave him a morning kiss, and then I recklessly breathed it all over the morning commuters on the El. So don’t make this for your own wedding or anything–unless you have a garlic-loving groom.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Baked Olive Artichoke Dip

The original recipe for this lovely hot dip came from one of the blogs I regularly read. The only change I’ve made is to spell out how I made the green olive tapenade for those of you who may not have tapenade on hand.

You definitely need to like olives in order to enjoy this, but the olive flavor also won’t punch you in the face and knock you out cold. It’s so easy to assemble, so let’s get started.

Wow–I’m not feeling very verbose today, and it’s kinda freaking me out. I normally like to chatter at least a little before stampeding on with the recipe at hand. Hmmmm.

*Searching brain for something clever and hilarious to say*

*Searching brain for something at least mildly amusing to say*

*Searching brain for any old anything to say*

Nope, I’m coming up on empty. Well, as they say, another day another dollar. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. Don’t take no wooden nickels. Lose the battle, win the war. So to speak.

Alright! I’m feeling better already.

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

1-14 oz can artichoke hearts (unmarinated), drained

1/2 packed fresh basil leaves, minced

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup chopped green anchovy-stuffed olives

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp capers, minced

5.2 oz Boursin (or any garlic and herb cheese)

Crackers, flatbread, or crusy bread to serve

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Give the drained artichoke hearts a rough choppity-chop.

Measure out the basil–firmly pack it in there.

Cram it . . . no, I’ve made that joke too many times already and, as they say, 3rd time’s a spanking.

Give it a nice mince.

Now if you have a green olive tapenade on hand, simply measure out 3/4 cup of that, and skip this next step. I didn’t have any tapenade around, so I assembled some anchovy-stuffed olives, capers, and garlic.

Mince the olives, capers, and garlic (or use your food processor) (then please send me your food processor).

Unwrap the beauty that is Boursin cheese.

By all means taste it. I know I did.

Mix all the ingredients together (except for the crackers, of course).

A sensible person would do this in a bowl, with a spoon.

I did it in a pie plate with my hands.

Hey! What the heck . . .

Note to self: next time, fully remove the foil packaging from the Boursin.

Press the dip into a pie plate, creating an even surface.

Lick your fingers avidly. Consider the possibility of eating it just like this, right now.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve with the crackers or bread.

Mmmm. I love a good hot dip.

It’s delightful, folks.

If you want a pop of fresh color, garnish it with a little extra sprinkling of basil.

And for my closing remarks . . . It takes one to know one. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. A penny in time saves nine. And the most hideous expression of all time which despite my hatred of it doesn’t prevent me from writing it on a regular basis: don’t get your panties in a bunch.

With this dip on hand, no panties will be bunched by anyone at any time.

P.S. Thank you Lester Roadhog Moran for the page I just ripped out of your book.

P.P.S If you don’t know who Lester Roadhog Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys are, please ignore previous P.S and continue living as previously scheduled.

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