Foodie Goes Thin

Garlic scapes were one of the options this week in my CSA share. They are a fleeting spring time delicacy, available for a very short time.  Last year I used my scapes to make a Garlic Scape Pesto, which is just about the most common garlic scape recipe you’ll find if you Google the ingredient. It was good, but this year I wanted something different. I wanted other flavors to complement the garlic, but not in a safe-from-vampires-and-humans-too kind of way. Let’s taste it and enjoy it, but keep it mellow.

Then I stumbled upon this New York Times recipe from 2008. It wasn’t for pesto. It was for a white bean dip.

I’m currently having a love affair with white beans. Sure, they have 3 points per half a cup, but they are also a Simply Filling or Power or Core food, depending on what year you started going to Weight Watchers. That means they are nutritionally dense, loaded with fiber and protein and they are filling. Eat them and you won’t be feeling hungry again in a half hour.

The only thing that is not Simply Filling in this recipe is the olive oil. The New York Times recipe calls for 1/4 cup. I reduced it to 1/8 cup. That’s 2 Tablespoons, or 6 teaspoons.  Have one serving, and dip baby carrots or celery sticks, you are good on the Simply Filling plan and have had one teaspoon of your healthy oils for the day.

Garlic Scape and White Bean Dip

adapted from this recipe in the NYTimes

3 large garlic scapes, chopped into 1 inch or so pieces

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste (I used a little bit more)

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt (I used a little bit more)

Ground black pepper to taste

2 cups cannellini beans (the NY Times recipe called for 1 15 oz can. I cooked up some dry beans and measured out 2 cups)

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil (half of what was called for in the original recipe)

1. Put chopped garlic scapes, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the food processor and process until they are finely chopped.
2. Add cannelloni beans and process until you get a rough puree.
3. Drizzle the olive oil down as you continue to process the mixture.
4. Test for taste and adjust with more salt or lemon juice as needed.

Enjoy with baby carrots, celery, raw cauliflower, or if you are splurging maybe some thin wedges of pita bread.

1/4 cup serving = 4 Weight Watcher PointsPlus points

Fulfills the Simply Filling plan plus 1 of your two free servings of healthy oils for the day.