White Bean Tapenade

This is really a side dish, a nice addition to a picnic or your next get-together. I got it from a recent Bon Appetit - they were showcasing a southern French picnic, featuring roast chicken with herbes de provence, apricot cakes and this White Bean Tapenade, to be served on a baguette with cured meats. I'm always on the look-out for ways to eat more beans, in dips and things, so I gave this one a try. Allez-y!

It's quite simple, because everything gets stirred in together - my favourite way to cook! Though I did roughly chop the 1 can of white beans. To the beans, add 1/2 cup chopped olives (I used a mix of kalamata and those big garlic-stuffed green ones, yum), 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp grated lemon zest (maybe a bit more, I never measure), pinch of red-pepper flakes and 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice. I left out the parsley and added one finely chopped shallot.

I left it overnight the fridge for the flavours to meld together, and had it on toast with some nice cheese on the side. I really liked it - I forget what fresh lemon juice and zest can do to a dish to make it nice and bright. The olives were perfect - salty and briny - and the shallot wasn't overpowering. The only problem is, it's a little chunky - it was a bit hard to eat on toast since it would fall off the sides. Oh, well. A nice addition to a simple lunch or platter of meat, cheese and bread.