Recipe: Creamy Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip with Lemon and Thyme

“Eat this.”

“That looks like (insert unappetizing frowned-up food blog word here). ”

[10 minutes and half a bowl of dip later]

“Wait, this is really good. What is it??”

If that exchange doesn’t cause you to sprint to the kitchen and make this dip, I’m really not sure there’s much hope for you. There is a special place in culinary heaven reserved for foods that pass the roommate taste-test but aren’t 99% comprised of starchy carbs and/or cheese – And this roasted garlic and white bean dip is one of them.

If you don’t own a food processor, this recipe is reason enough to buy one. This dip takes no time at all to whip up, can be made a few days ahead, and works equally well as a mid-week snack than it does an appetizer. Most importantly, it can be eaten with one hand while the other hand is busy whipping egg whites for 30 minutes. (If you follow me on Twitter, you may have put 2 and 2 together that a meringue recipe is coming soon!)

Tip: If you serve this with veggies leave the carrots and bell peppers raw, but you’ll want to blanch the asparagus. To do so, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cut the woody ends off the asparagus. Add the asparagus to the boiling water, and cook for 2-3 minutes. With tongs, remove the asparagus from the water and immediately submerge them in a large bowl of ice water. This stops the cooking so the asparagus maintain their crunch and bright green color.  

Ingredients

One head of garlic

One 15 ounce can white cannellini (kidney) beans, drained and rinsed

Juice of 1 lemon (about 1 tbsp)

Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tsp)

1 tsp fresh thyme

Small handful of fresh, flat-leaf parsley

3 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Veggies, pita chips, or crackers for dipping

Recipe

Roast Garlic: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice entire head of garlic in half, so that all of the cloves are exposed. Place both garlic halves on a piece of foil, and drizzle liberally with olive oil. Close up the foil, and roast for about 45 minutes. Allow the garlic to cool, and then use your hands to squeeze all of the roasted cloves from the paper.

Make Dip: In the bowl of a food processer, add the roasted garlic, cannellini beans, lemon juice and zest, thyme, parsley, olive oil salt and pepper. Run the food processor until a smooth dip is formed. For a thinner consistency, add more olive oil. Taste, and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve cold or room temperature with veggies, pita chips or crackers.