White Bean Dip: A Cucumber Filler

Our cucumbers are growing like gangbusters and since pickling the first batch, I have collected quite a few, but not enough for another batch of pickles.  There are just so many salads a girl can make, so I thought I would use them as dip holders.  Yup, dip holders.  I love doing this as it’s an easy way to serve dip and get rid of a few very large cucumbers at once.  Our neighbors were stopping by for a drink this weekend, so it was the perfect opportunity to make them.  I made a batch of my guacamole and I wanted to make my own hummus; store-bought hummus has tahini in it, which is sesame paste, and sesame and I don’t mix.

I grabbed a can of garbanzo beans from the pantry, opened them, and to my surprise, they were small white beans!  I shouldn’t have been surprised, what I should have done was read the label which had a picture and the name of the bean in English and in Spanish.  I guess I will be using small white beans in a few dinners this week.  I went back to the pantry and grabbed the can of garbanzo beans and opened them.  Holy cow, I did it again!  This time, I pulled cannellini beans!  I really should have learned my lesson.  I knew there were garbanzo beans in the pantry, but now that I had two cans already opened, I thought I should use one of them so nothing went to waste and so that I wasn’t eating beans all week.  So what I thought would be hummus is now affectionately known as Oopsy Bean Dip.

Oopsy Bean Dip

1 can or 1 1/2 cups cannellini beans

1 large clove or 2 small cloves garlic

1 Tablespoon sunflower seed butter

1/2 teaspoon roasted peanut oil (or a substitute oil)

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.  That’s it!  Well, you may have to scrape the sides down a few times and test your salt level a few times, but that’s basically it!

All ingredients ready to take a spin!

Bean dip!

The sunflower seed butter is a great substitution for those with a sesame allergy.  You could also experiment with peanut butter or almond butter, but personally, I like the subtle flavor of the sunflower seed butter.

Now on to using the cucumbers…

I used two large cucumbers, a cutting board, a knife and a melon-baller.  If you don’t have a melon-baller, a teaspoon will also work.  Cut the ends off the cucumber and then cut it into one-inch pieces width wise.

Cut into one-inch pieces.

With the melon-baller or teaspoon, scoop out a shallow cup for your filling.  Be careful not to go all the way through the seeds.  Something needs to remain so that the filling won’t fall out the bottom when you got to pick up your treat.

All balled out. Now time to fill.

Fill the cups using a teaspoon with your choice of dips.  I used guacamole and the Oopsy Bean Dip, but you can fill with cream cheese and top with caviar if you are fancy, or tuna fish or egg salad if you want to make more of a meal out of these.

All filled and ready to serve!

For a little added color, and because my grape tomatoes are also flourishing in the garden, I topped each one with a few slices.

Topped and ready to enjoy!

The cucumber cup and dip combination is such a fun and easy way to serve your guests.  It also really helped to use up the multiple cans of beans I opened up.  Tomorrow:  Another recipe using beans (I have to use up that other can!)  Stay tuned!

xo

B