down with the hummus

I've never been a big hummus fan. It's tastey but too pastey and starchy for me. Try out this lovely white bean dip. It's straight from Giada De Laurentis' Everyday Italian Cookbook. She uses cannellini beans instead and it's smoother and creamier than hummus which is made from chickpeas. I use less lemon juice and oil and dried parsley.
Serve it with crackers, raw veggies, or chips. I like to use it as a spread on toast and make a tomato and lettuce sandwich. Yum. Yet another way to add legumes into the day.
Here I've spread them onto 'Mary's Gone Crackers' onion flavored gluten free crackers with a little tomato on top. Ok so the crackers look and sound like I'm munching on tree bark (: BUT they're really good with this bean dip.

White Bean Dip
Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 Tbls. fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
Directions:
1. In a food processor, combine the beans, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, and 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Pulse on and off until the mixture is coarsely chopped.
2. With the machine running, gradually mix in the 1/3 cup oil until the mixture is creamy. Season the puree with more salt and pepper to taste.