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Roasted Garlic & Herb Bean Dip

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Come say hi to Ayla today on Faces of Beauty!

 

Confession:  Nate hates beans.  That counts as a confession when it’s not your own, right?

 

Anyway, I happen to love beans and try to eat them a couple times a week in lieu of meat.  Don’t get me wrong, this girl isn’t going vegetarian, but I know that meat doesn’t have to be part of every meal.

 

And, well, beans beans they’re good for the heart…!

 

I’ll be honest though:  beans don’t have a ton of flavor on their own.  Sometimes that’s just right, but when I was making beans this past weekend I needed some FLAVAH.

 

Enter roasted garlic.

I’ve been super spoiled with this garlic roaster my sister got for me when she lived in California near Gilroy, which is famous for it’s Garlic Festival.  (By the way if I ever make it out there it’s likely I’m not coming home.  Lord help me, I love garlic!)  It’s basically a little clay Dutch oven specifically for garlic…cute, right?  The beans are from scratch but are incredibly simple, and the slow-cooking makes them soft enough that there’s no need for oil or anything!

 

ROASTED GARLIC & HERB BEAN DIP

  • 1 1/2 cups dried navy beans
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 1/2 white onion
  • 1 bulb garlic
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

To make the beans, pour them in a pot and cover with twice as much water.  Let them sit and soak for about 7-8 hours; I did this in the morning before leaving for work.  After 7-8 hours, drain the beans and rinse.  Put them in a crockpot and cover with twice the water again, this time adding in the sprig of rosemary and the half onion.  Cook for 8 hours on low or until the beans are very soft.  Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.  Drain, pick out the rosemary sprig (or what’s left of it), and the onion and set aside.

 

For the garlic, cut off the top 1/3 of the bulb.  I used a serrated knife for this, but regardless BE CAREFUL and go slowly.  I’m assuming you’d like your fingers intact by the time you’re ready to eat the bean dip!  You want to make sure that the tops of all of the cloves are exposed.  Drizzle with the Tbsp of olive oil, making sure to get some on every clove.  Place cut-side up in the garlic roaster (you can make a little pocket out of foil and place on a baking sheet if you don’t have a garlic roaster) and place in the middle of a cold oven.  Turn the temperature to 300, wait 45-55 minutes, and voila!  Roasted garlic.

 

My heart is singing already.

 

Finally, to assemble it all, dump the beans into a food processor.  Pulse until almost smooth.  If the beans don’t appear to have enough liquid that’s fine; just use some of the cooking liquid that you saved.  I would only go 1 Tbsp at a time though.  When the garlic is cool, squeeze out all of the cloves and put in processor.  Process until completely smooth (or if you like it chunky that’s fine too).  Enjoy with anything you like!

Y’all, garlic is like butter to me…add it to anything and the day is instantly brighter, happier, and more full of meaning.  In fact, I’d say that garlic trumps butter (GASP!) in that!  It’s just that good 🙂

 

Happy Monday to everyone!

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Comments

  2. “garlic is like butter” – Rachel Ray would be proud 😉 heh. Seriously though, I can get behind any sort of bean dip. yummm!

    Reply

  12. yum! I’m a bean machine. Ha. But seriously, I love them and eat them in some form almost everyday. I love how versatile (and if I’m being honest, how CHEAP) they are. 🙂 This dip looks delicious!

    Reply

  20. I love garlic too! I know there has been some articles out there that have disproved garlic’s healing side, but I don’t believe them. I still eat a lot of garlic, but take garlic vitamins when I am sick, with vitamin C. Both are powerful natural healing agents. So you should have a happy healthy winter! 🙂

    Reply

  21. Peter and I have the same issue. I love beans and use them to replace meat in some meals each week, but he doesn’t love that too much. He’ll eat it though. I bet he would love them in a form with garlic though. The man could eat garlic raw I bet.

    Reply

  24. Confession: I hate garlic. (And I’m Italian, which I think means I’m breaking a law.)

    But I do love green beans and this reminds me to eat them with hummus, which looks like your garlic dip but is really made with horseradish instead. Much better. 😉

    Reply

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