Our dog Jack is what our vet calls a “grazer.” Most dogs eat grass as an emetic–Jack eats it because he likes it. He’s a big vegetable lover. He begs for asparagus and adores broccolini.
Last summer, I planted extra sugar snap peas around some potatoes that I had just thrown in the dirt when they started to sprout. I ignored the the sugar snappies; unloved and untrellised, they grew haphazardly and spindly along the ground. One evening, sitting in the gloaming light, Dan and I heard a strange repetitive noise. “Click…tug, tug, tug, snap, chomp, chomp, chomp.” Jack was systematically snipping off each sugar snap pea with his teeth, then eating them. He cleaned off 10 clusters of snap peas.
I’ve learned my lesson and have potted this years snappies. I served them the other night with this white bean hummus.
1-2 cups white dried canneloni beans
1 head garlic
2 bay leaves
1 spring of rosemary
10 peppercorns
olive oil
espellete powder (if available-they sell it at the spanish table)
Soak beans overnight in water. Drain.
Head all of the ingredients in a saucepan with about 8 cups water. If you have a tea infuser or a bag for spices it is easier to remove the herbs/spices after cooking. If not, you will have to pick them out after cooking. Bring to boil and then lower to a simmer until beans are cooked. (?40min)
Drain and cool. Remove herbs and head of garlic, but retain the head of garlic. Puree the cooked beans, salt, olive oil, espellete powder, and some of the cooked garlic (will have to squeeze out of the clove). I usually squeeze out about 4-6 cloves. If you want to limit the olive oil, you can use some pot water from the cooking and less olive oil. I use a food processor because it works better than a blender, though I’ve never tried an immersion blender.
