I made this dip on my last week in my condo, as a way to clean out my pantry a little bit (so I’d have fewer cans and jars to move, which is key) and also to have something to contribute at my last condo social event. This white bean dip, flavored with bright lemon, sun-dried tomatoes and chives, is certainly delicious. But I know better than to call it hummus. After meeting Katie, I now understand that hummus is just that, hummus, and anything else is… well… something else. It’s like Champagne, a little bit. One of my pet peeves is when people refer to sparkling wine as “Champagne” when it’s not. Hello, Champagne is from the Champagne region of France. Anything else is sparkling wine. And there’s nothing wrong with sparkling wine, as long as you don’t try to pretend it’s Champagne. This is kind of like that. This dip is not hummus. So I’m going to be respectful and not try to pretend that it’s some kind of “White Bean Hummus with Sun-Dried Tomato and Chives.” I’m going to call this what it is – a delicious, creamy, flavorful dip made with cannellini beans and sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil. It calls to mind various Mediterranean flavors – the white beans and sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil suggesting Italy, with a little whiff of Greece from the tahini (I use a Greek brand). Yum. Not hummus… but delish.
Mediterranean Bean Dip
1 can white (cannellini) beans, drained and rinsed, liquor reserved
1/4 cup (approx.) extra-virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons tahini
salt and pepper
3 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rough chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh (or freeze-dried) chives, plus more for garnish
- Place beans, oil, lemon juice and tahini in the bowl of a blender and pulse to combine. Add reserved bean liquor, a tablespoon at a time, until the dip reaches a smooth and creamy consistency. (This is something you have to judge for yourself; I can’t tell you how much bean liquor it will take. It totally depends on your blender and your beans.)
- Take a quick taste and decide if the dip needs any more lemon or tahini for flavoring. If so, add the ingredient a little at a time, tasting as you go along, to achieve the right flavor. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then blend.
- Blend in roughly chopped pieces of sun-dried tomato – but don’t over-blend! You want the tomato to be evenly dispersed throughout the dip, with flecks of red visible and the rest of the dip a creamy, pale pink color.
- Remove dip to a bowl and stir in chives. Scoop into serving bowl and top with additional chives, if desired.
Source: Covered In Flour, method from Good Things Catered
covered in flour 
I make a similar dip with a recipe I found on Chocolate & Zucchini. That recipe calls for chili sauce, but I use cayenne instead. Very tasty dip, and I like the little bit of heat from the cayenne.
Yum, sounds good! I’m definitely going to have to try a pinch of cayenne or maybe a dash of Tabasco next time. I just started experimenting with adding Tabasco – I did to my lemon butter pasta with shrimp – and it’s surprisingly NOT overwhelming! I thought it would overpower the dish, but it just added some nice complexity. Thanks for the tip!
See! And THIS is exactly why I love you. This post is awesome. And I TOOOOOOOOOOOTALLY get that champagne thing too. It drives me nutty when my girlfriends are like “oh my gosh, you have to try this new champagne!” Of course I keep my mouth shut but my brain is saying “Oh, wonderful sparkling wine you have here”! hehe. 🙂 It looks and sounds deeeelicious! 🙂
Thanks, Katie! 🙂 By the way, I made your hummus yesterday for my aunt and uncle, who are visiting from California. My aunt normally doesn’t like hummus at all but she LOVED it. I said, “That’s because it’s REAL hummus!”
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