Do your kids ask you for things at the last possible second even though they have known about whatever it is they need for weeks? Â My husband does this, too. Â “If you knew last Friday that you would need to bring a wrapped gift for your party, why are you telling me as we’re getting into the car on the WAY to the party??” Â It really messes up the walk I talk about being organized.
One of my daughters was going to a girl scout meeting which started at 6:00 pm, and guess what? Â She announced at 5:25 that she needed to bring an hors d’oeuvre. Â That 10 pre-teens would actually want to eat. Â And “not like something so totally healthy either, Mom.” Â Like cool! Â Like let’s pretend we’re on an episode of Chopped! Â But seriously, even though I like the idea of being able to whip something yummy together with stuff from my pantry in 20 minutes, it’s a little stressful.
Normally, my go-to would have been hummus, which I can make in 10 seconds and I know my daughter and her friends like it. Â But of course, on this day I had no cooked chickpeas. Â So you know what they say about necessity being the mother of invention. Â I found some canned white beans in the pantry and added them to the food processor with a few other staples that generally taste good with white beans and we had ourselves a winner dip. Â My daughter even said she liked it better than hummus. Â At the time, I made it with a raw garlic clove and it was terrific, but another day when I wasn’t under the gun I tried it with a whole head of roasted garlic and looooooved it more.
I just made the bean dip again recently to bring to a birthday dinner with some health-conscious ladies and served it with some crudites as shown in the picture. Â I stole the idea from Martha Stewart of putting the cut veggies in modern drinking glasses. Â It always makes for a pretty presentation. Â I also included a small bowl of balsamic vinegar and olive oil with a pinch of sea salt — another stolen idea, this time from an Italian restaurant. Â We have also used the dip as a sandwich spread with grilled vegetables. Â Fabulous with eggplant, sweet bell peppers and zucchini!
Sure I could have gone to the market on the way to the meeting and picked up a tub of salsa and a bag of chips, but thankfully I didn’t because then there would of been two of the same hors d’oeuvre at the meeting that night. (At least it’s not just my kid.)
- 1 head of garlic, unpeeled to roast or 1 large clove raw garlic, peeled
- 2 cups cooked white beans*, such as cannellini or Great Northern, drained and rinsed, if canned
- ¼ cup cold-pressed, unrefined extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- Several dashes hot sauce
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- a few grinds finely ground black pepper
- Roast the garlic: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice off the top fifth of the head of unpeeled garlic. Add a drop of olive oil. Replace the top. Wrap with parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour. Discard foil and parchment.
- Take the top off of the garlic and squeeze the softened garlic out of the skins into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth and creamy. When I'm ready to serve it, I like to drizzle it with a touch of fruity olive oil. Can be made a day ahead and kept covered and refrigerated.
To cook your beans from scratch, soak dried beans in lots of cold water for at least 6 hours or longer. Drain them. Put them in a pot with enough fresh water to cover by 4-6 inches. Bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook until tender, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1½ hours, depending on the age of the beans. I like to add a tablespoon of kosher salt to the beans and allow them to cool in their cooking liquid for 30-60 minutes, if possible, but it's not necessary. Drain and use immediately or store in the fridge for 3 days. Beans also freeze very well.