White Bean and Garlic Scape Dip

Although it may seem that all I do is bake delicious desserts, 'tis not true. I do cook quite a bit, and I'm actually a very healthy eater. I am rarely the one consuming the goodies I make. I mean, don't get me wrong; I do eat what I make. I just don't eat very many of the treats. ;-) Moderation is always the key, friends!

I'm about as big a fan there is of veggies, and I rarely go a day without eating a large salad for either lunch or dinner. So earlier this year when friends of ours suggested we buy a vegetable CSA share together, I jumped at the chance! Fresh, local, organic, delicious veggies every week? Yes, please! We've been getting veggies for just over a month now, and we're really loving it. Everything tastes so good! The difference in taste and freshness between the veggies I'd typically buy in the grocery store vs. the CSA veggies is very noticeable, I'd say!

For the first few weeks, we were getting a lot of garlic scapes, and through the food blog world, I learned that other people doing CSA's were also getting lots of garlic scapes. What's with these things? I had no idea. I had never seen a garlic scape before in my life! Haha. As it turns out, scapes are the part of the garlic plant that shoots out of the ground as the bulb is growing underground. For the garlic to keep growing, it's important to pick the scapes. Otherwise, the garlic's growth is stunted! And we can't have that.

Since receiving so many scapes in our CSA, I was eager to find new recipes with which to use them. Thankfully, the Brown Eyed Baker came to the rescue just in time with this tasty white bean and garlic scape dip recipe! The recipe is very simple with only six ingredients (two of which are salt and pepper), and it's deeelicious. I can't get enough of it since I've made it. I eat it with crackers and veggies mostly, but I've also put it on a turkey sandwich. YUM! The consistency is a bit thicker than most hummus I've had. I should warn you...this is a verrrry garlicky recipe. So be sure not to eat this before you're heading out for a date or an important business meeting. ;-)

Ingredients:

-1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes

-1 Tbsp. lemon juice

-1/2 tsp. sea salt

-ground black pepper to taste

-1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

-1/4 cup olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor, process the scapes, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until finely chopped, scraping the sides as needed. Add the beans and process until the mixture is a rough puree. With the machine running, pour in the olive oil and process until smooth. Check the consistency; if you'd like it to be a bit thinner, you can add two or three tablespoons of water. I did not do this, as I liked the consistency as it was.

Taste, and add more salt and pepper if you'd like. ENJOY!

There you have it. Garlic scapes. Give 'em a try!

Butternut Squash Dip

Greetings and happy February! I have a fun recipe for you here that doesn't involve baking! In fact, it doesn't even involve the stove or oven at all!! All you need is your handy dandy microwave. ;-) This is a recipe for a deeeelicious dip made with butternut squash. I made this for the first time for our New Year's Eve gathering and have been meaning to share it with you ever since then! I fell in love with this dip immediately. Why? Well, there are a few reasons...  First of all, it's YUMMY. It's so yummy that it's addicting. Seriously. Secondly, it's EASY. So easy. Thirdly, it's fairly healthy! Well, it's healthy in the sense that it contains the nutrient-laden veggie of butternut squash. Two of the other ingredients, parmesan cheese and sour cream, may not be so healthy themselves...but if you enjoy this in moderation, you're still going to gain the benefits of the squash but not too many calories!

As I said, this recipe is simple. It involves:

Microwaving frozen butternut squash.

Mixing that with sour cream, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

EATING.

That's it!

Oh, and here's the actual recipe I followed so you know the measurements when you're making this yourself. :) I know you're going to!!

Here are a couple pics of the dip and several other goodies we had for NYE (over a month ago now!).

I have had this dip cold, at room temp, and warm. It's delicious any way, I promise you! I still can't decide which is my favorite. I've served this with crackers and veggies so far. I haven't served it with bread yet, so I'll have to do that next time (maybe a sliced, toasted baguette would be yummy?!). As I said above, it's addicting. Watch out!!

Mmmmmmm.

I'm off to sunny California first thing tomorrow morning to run a half marathon this weekend! It'll probably be a week or so until I can blog again, but I look forward to bringing you another tasty Barbershop treat soon. As usual, I have several waiting on deck!

Oh, one more thing...  I'd love your opinion on my new blog layout and design! I thought I'd change it up a bit. It's still not definite that I'll keep this, but I'd love your thoughts to help me make my decision. Thanks!! :)