White Bean Spread

Vegan or not, hummus eventually gets kind of boring. Especially because it seems like the one vegetarian option on any menu is always hummus-based. I get it; wrap up some generic vegetables with lackluster hummus in a colored-tortilla and charge me $8. Whatever. The lack of imagination while eating out is mundane enough, the least I can do is switch it up when I'm at home. To support my boyfriend's meth-like hummus addiction, I  tend to whip up a batch at least once a week. To keep us from constant tahini stench, I've done my share of experimenting with hummus, adding every seasoning, herb or vegetable I could think of (I've even made pizza hummus!). But, no matter how many creative, interesting batches of hummus I've made, it's still just hummus. 

For some reason though, once you take the basic concept of hummus and switch up the beans, suddenly you've created hummus' sexy, carefree cousin. This is a recipe I made once for Big Girls Small Kitchen's delicious roasted eggplant sandwich last summer and just recently dug it back up. The best part about this spread? It goes with literally everything. Use it as a dip for fresh veggies, pitas, or in place of mayonnaise on any vegetable sandwich. Sometimes, I just eat it with a spoon. 

note: Cara's recipe is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had, by the way, so I highly recommend trying it as you harvest those eggplants from the garden!

You can use a can of any white bean (canellini, navy or great northern), but of all I've tried, I prefer cannelinni. Great northern beans are a little grainy and nutty, while cannelini's are perfectly creamy. 

Drain and rinse the beans, and toss them in your food processor or blender. 

You are also going to need 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic, the juice from half a lemon, and some herbs. A few sprigs of fresh thyme will go perfect in this, otherwise a teaspoon of dried herbs, such as rosemary, works alright too. Feel free to play with your favorite herbs, and whatever you have on hand. I went ahead and used both fresh thyme and dried rosemary this time around. 

Add all ingredients, along with a tablespoon of olive oil and blend until smooth, adding salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. You may have to another tablespoon of olive oil if it is still coarse.

And that's it!

Serve with warmed pita, and you have a perfect snack in just a few minutes. 

White Bean Spread
total time: 5 minutes
makes 2 cups

Ingredients:
1 can white beans
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
1 garlic clove
juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse beans. 

Add all ingredients to food processor or blender and puree a few minutes until smooth.