Spicy Sriracha White Bean Dip

I really love dips, and this is a good one. I made mine pretty spicy but that could easily be dialed down to just a nice kick of spicy flavor in this creamy, Asian-y white bean dip. Eat it with pita chips, raw veggies OR, if you happen to have fresh Honey Wheat Bread in the freezer, with toasted slices of that. Or on a sandwich!

Twilly is suffering a really bad beard-hair day.

Just FYI, the next blog post will be the 100th!!

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SPICY SRIRACHA WHITE BEAN DIP

Adapted from White on Rice Couple

1/4 lb dried white beans (save the cooking water) 
2 bay leaves
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp sriracha 
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup bean cooking water if you want it smoother/thinner
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
crackers, pita chips, veggies, toasted baguette slices,etc.

1. Cook your white beans by the package's instructions if you're using dried beans - but add the bay leaves when the beans are boiling. Or you could use 1 15 oz can, it should be similar.

2. Combine all the other ingredients (except your crackers, pita chips, etc. obviously) and puree, adding the bean cooking water if you want it thinner. I garnished with some more beans and paprika, but cilantro would be great.

Note: The spicy flavor will mellow out a bit in the fridge while the other flavors get stronger. (It's a good thing, but if you want it to stay really spicy, make it really spicy.)

Another white bean dip that I'll definitely be making once my herb garden gets going again: David Lebovitz's White Bean Dip. And Martha Stewart has an Avocado White Bean Dip that looks really good. I've made a good simple garlicy herby white bean dip before but I'm not sure if I used a recipe.