Intro schmintro

Sometimes I make dishes that are protein-scarce. They taste good, which is why I make them. But what do I do about the protein?

In cases like these, I turn to dips. They may not even complement the dish well — especially when I haven't tried them before, like the ones in this post — but they provide the missing protein.

Dips are also nice to dip vegetables in, make them tastier. It's a win-win.

So let's see what I've cooked up this time.

Garlic and Rosemary White Bean Dip

Bread + beans = complete protein. Yay!

I often dip bread in my bean soups. So why not spread beans on my bread? Worth a try.

Difficulty? Easy: just throw all the ingredients into the blender and blend.

Then whip out your long French baguette that you always carry about, slice, fry with olive oil (toasters are for losers), and spread the dip all over.

Then taste.

Then be mildly impressed.

It's okay-ish.

It's edible.

Doesn't compare to tahini and the like, so why bother?

Let's try a variation.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta White Bean Dip

Now that's more like it! Now you're talking a language I can understand.

Greek.

Greek feta, to be exact.

(It's a regional dialect.)

Let's blend.

Let's again spread it on soft toasted rustic French baguette (this is a proper controlled experiment).

Bite.

Chew.

Mm. Pliamk pliamk. Achoo! Excuse me. Pliamk pliamk.

...several tastings later...

It's an improvement to the plain version, for sure.

But how does it fare in the "let's compare it to more traditional dips like tahini, taramosalata, etc." test?

It fails.

So why bother? Unless it's for variety's sake. Perhaps something to serve to William Cowper when he visits.

Final Verdict

Pros: Nice. Easy. Quick. Cheap.

Cons: Fails the "can it stand proudly against tahini and other more traditional sauces" test.

Note: The variation is better than the plain version.

The cookbook

Garlic and Rosemary White Bean Dip & Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta White Bean Dip in The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook: 500 Vibrant, Kitchen-Tested Recipes for Living and Eating Well Every Day, by The Editors at America's Test Kitchen.

All pics by moi.

Past episodes:

2: Cookbook With Me #2 - Evocative Almond Cake!

1: Cookbook With Me #1 - Surprisingly Good Pickled Okra!

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@alexander.alexis is a @greek-trail trailer and trailee