Parmesan-White Bean Dip

Today I am sharing this great bean recipe with you. It comes from a little cookbook by Betty Crocker called "quick and healthy". This is really delicious and makes a nice spread for a piece of toast or on crackers or with vegetables as a dip. Here are the ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 - 19 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 c. chicken broth or white wine
1 TBSP parsley flakes
1 c. shredded parmesan cheese

After you pluck the rosemary stems from your plant (I have a huge rosemary bush by my front door), pull the leaves down off of the stem...the leaves look like this below when you finish...

Next, chop the garlic and rosemary, and saute them in the olive oil on medium -high.

Stir constantly until the garlic is light brown. Don't burn the garlic, it will become bitter. The picture below is about right.
Next, add the beans and chicken broth, and mash them as the mixture cooks.
When it gets to looking like cooked oatmeal, add the parsley. You can add fresh parsley if you have it....I didn't. Use 2 TBSP if using fresh.

After that is stirred in, add the parmesan cheese. A note here, I always look for fresh grated parmesan on sale. It saves me money, and I just put it in the freezer until I need it. It isn't hard to measure it from the frozen state.
Stir in the cheese and heat until melted. Isn't this looking yummy!
OK, I am a black olive fan. I happened to have a small can of chopped olives (why? who knows, I found it in the pantry!) so I added a couple of tablespoons to the dip.
There it is, ready to serve! You can serve this with raw veges, whole wheat crackers, pita or bagel chips. This makes a nice vegetarian spread for wheat toast. This is a dip that you want to serve warm-hot.
Calorie count for this is 125 kcals with 4 gm dietary fiber for 2 rounded Tablespoons.

For food storage purposes, you really can have all of the ingredients on hand, either in the pantry or the freezer. Fresh herbs are best, but you can have dried on hand in the spice cupboard.