White bean dip

In celebration of National Bean Day, Wednesday January 6th, I decided to work around my current (and sad) difficulty with eating hummus. Don’t get me wrong - I love hummus - or at least I did until about two months ago. One of my favorite snacks is (was?) veggies and hummus – a great way to get in some of the phytonutrients I’m always recommending, along with healthy and delicious carbs, fiber, fat, protein, iron, and potassium. Hummus is sold in a variety of flavors these days, including garlic, onion, red pepper, dill, or my recent favorite, sweet potato, providing an array of tastes to keep one’s interest and complement whatever vegetables, crackers, or other delivery method is chosen to consume it with. But after a bout of tainted-hummus-induced food poisoning, I just can’t bring myself to eat it again. Yet.

That’s where today’s recipe comes in. This White Bean Dip from Love and Lemons has many of the same benefits of hummus, being made predominantly of beans and olive oil, but there are a couple of important differences. First, it doesn’t contain tahini (sesame seed paste), so it’s safe for those with a sesame allergy, and second, it’s not hummus, so it doesn’t trigger my hopefully short-lived hummus aversion.

The white beans used in this dip are very mild-flavored. In fact, most of the flavor comes from the seasonings used, so this dip lends itself to nearly infinite variation. If you like a garlicky dip, throw in several cloves. If you like onion, use some of that instead. Your favorite hot peppers can be added for some heat. Seasonings can be fresh, roasted, dried, powdered: whatever you have on hand. Be bold; be brave. This dip loves strong flavors! I put roasted garlic (more than the recipe called for), spring onions, parsley, and basil in mine, along with the recommended lemon, salt, and pepper. Yum.