White Bean & Almond Spread (as seen in Webisode 11)

Recipe adapted from Super Natural Every Day (see "Favorite Books" tab)

Recipe makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

1/3 - ¼ cup olive oil

1 tsp dried or fresh rosemary, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cups cooked white beans or 15 oz can

¾ cup sliced almonds, toasted

¼ tsp fine-grain sea salt

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

¼ to ¾ cup hot water

Grated zest of ½ lemon

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the olive oil, rosemary and garlic.  Over medium-low heat, slowly warm the mixture until the oil just starts to sizzle, 1-2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes.  Pour the oil through a strainer and discard the garlic and rosemary bits. 

2. In a food processor (or magic bullet), combine the beans, 2/3 of the almonds, salt, lemon juice, and 2/3 of the rosemary oil.  Pulse a couple of times to bring the ingredients together.  Add the water ¼ cup at a time, until the mixture is the consistency of thick frosting.  The amount of water depends on how starchy your beans are and how thick you’d like the spread to be.  Taste and add more lemon juice or salt as needed.

3. Serve the bean spread in a small serving dish and make a few indentations in the top.  Sprinkle with the lemon zest and the remaining almonds and drizzle with the remaining rosemary oil.