I’d whipped up some whole-wheat baguettes to bring, and thought a garlicky spread would be great to go on top. This is a Blueberries and Lobster original. It’s a little like hummus, but with a decidedly Italian flavor. It’s delicious, frugal, and uses ingredients I tend to keep on hand.

Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip

1 c. dry navy beans
1 whole bulb garlic
2 T. dried, crushed rosemary
Kosher salt
1-2 T. freshly ground black pepper
1 T. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

Put the beans in a medium-large pot, and add enough water to cover by 1-2″. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow beans to simmer 45-60 minutes, until tender but not mushy.

Meanwhile, roast the garlic. (I roasted it while I was preheating the oven.) Chop off the papery top of the bulb to expose the cloves. Wrap a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil around the garlic most of the way. Drizzle a little regular olive oil on top. Twist the aluminum foil tightly around the top of the garlic, and roast in a 350 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle.

Drain the beans, reserving about 1/4 c. of the liquid. Put that back into the pot with the beans, along with a big pinch of kosher salt, the pepper, the rosemary, and the red pepper flakes. Mix well.

Begin pureeing with a stick blender. Drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil while blending, to form an emulsion.

Serve at room temperature.

I also made a new pumpkin soup. This one’s a new one for me — usually pumpkin soups are sweet affairs in this household. I like this one, though! It’s hearty and rustic and warming. Don’t bother chopping anything too finely in the beginning, since you will just hit it with the stick blender later. Same goes for the roasted pumpkin — unlike many pumpkin puree recipes, there is no need to take it for a spin in the food processor before using.

I served it with toasted pumpkin seeds (following Elise’s recipe) and my new favorite cornbread.

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup
Adapted and greatly simplified from Smitten Kitchen

Split a medium (~5 lb.) pumpkin in half lengthwise. Scrape stringy bits, reserving seeds. Roast, cut side down, in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

Into a soup pot goes:
2 T. butter
2 T. bacon grease (or olive oil)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped into 2-3 pieces
1 T. ground cumin

Cook on medium low, stirring, until onion is translucent. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add:
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) whole tomatoes (just dump the whole thing in, no chopping or draining)

Cook and stir until everything is heated through. When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh directly into the soup pot. Add flavorful liquid to cover — I used a combination of veggie broth and water, about 4-6 cups in total.

Simmer until the pumpkin really falls apart, maybe 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and hit the mixture with a stick blender until blended to your preference.

I grew up south of the Mason-Dixon line. Not very far, but far enough that split pea soup was on the rotation at home and I developed an almost unnatural love for good savory cornbread. So although I can’t remember eating anything with long-cooking greens at home, somehow it seeped into my blood that collards and kale are good eatin’.

When Farmer Justin offered me a bag of snow-covered kale earlier this week, I wanted to get creative and make some sort of strata, or kale lasagne, or get fancy with the blender and make kale cookies. But what my soul really hankered for during this snowy week was a big pot of beans and greens. Beans are inexpensive, nutritious, and filling. And they just belong cooked up with salt pork (or bacon) and hearty, long-cooking greens. I think Mainers would approve.

This dish takes a while, but you don’t have to pre-soak the beans, and it keeps for a week in the fridge. You could use all olive oil instead of bacon and easily turn this into a vegan meal, if that’s what you’re into.

Beans and Greens
1/2 T. olive oil
2 strips bacon, chopped up
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz. dry navy beans
about 4 c. long-cooking greens such as kale or collards, chopped

Put first four ingredients in a large pot over low heat. Keep it there for about half an hour, until the bacon has mostly rendered out its fat, and the onions are translucent. Pour off the extra bacon fat if you want.

Add the beans, and about three or four times as much water as beans. Cover, bring to a boil, then drop the heat back to medium and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add the chopped greens to the pot, and cover. You may have to really stuff them in there. After they’ve started to soften a little bit, stir up the pot so that everything gets mixed together, and put the cover back on. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, until the beans are soft and the greens are tender.

This makes about four servings, maybe more. Eat up, it’s good for you.