White Bean Dip--so much more exciting than it sounds

What with my husband finishing the dissertation and all, I hate to admit how little cooking has been going on.  So yesterday was a wonderful break and return to things.  The art teacher that I've worked with sells jewelry on the side, and I hosted a party for her which gave me a good excuse to do a little cooking.

I'll post the pumpkin flan that I did (I need to picture it before I eat it all), but for now, here's the white bean dip I improvised which ended up being totally yummy.  The key to this was the Meyer lemon, which I didn't realize was a Meyer lemon until I got it home as I was just plowing through Whole Foods as fast as I could.  They have such an unusual flavor...kind of like an orange, kind of like a lemon, and kind of their own thing too.  Ah, but the smell--like a bucket full of flowers, those Meyer lemons.  Maybe I should shop when my blood sugar is low more often. 

White Bean Dip

1 shallot, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
as much of your favorite chile powder as you like and according to hotness--ancho would be good, I used aji amarillo which isn't super hot, so I used about 1 tsp
3 T olive oil
1 can cannellini beans
juice from 1/2 Meyer lemon or 1 T orange juice and 1 T lemon juice
2 big handfuls cilantro chopped finely
salt and pepper

Heat a little bit of the olive oil in a small pan.  Saute the shallot and the garlic until the shallot is translucent.  Add the chile powder and continue to cook for one minute.  Remove the mixture to a small bowl.  Drain and rinse the beans and put half of them in a small food processor with the lemon juice, the rest of the olive oil and whizz away until they're nice and creamy and totally smooth.  You might need to add a wee bit of water to facilitate this.  Scrape the beans into the bowl.  Add the rest of the beans and mash them coarsely with a wooden spoon.  Add the cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with rice crackers