You may remember that a few months ago I began a mutual love affair with hummus.

Yes, that’s right.

I love hummus and hummus loves me.

But don’t go thinking that I dip veggies into it or anything.

Give me a bag of Stacy’s pita chips and I’ll go to town. I’m in heaven. My life is complete.

And I also lose all self control.

I have developed an affection for any type of bean dip. And I love the endless combinations that can be created.

I also get the hummus and bean dips all to myself. Mr. How Sweet won’t touch them since they lack meat. Even though they have a bit of protein and a lot of fiber, he resists.

I’m not complaining; he doesn’t need the extra fiber. Trust me.


I figured that the marriage of creamy beans and pesto would be fantastic. I love pesto, but I don’t love traditional pesto made with basil. My favorite is made with arugula – it has a peppery bite to it. I also add a good bit of cheese, and it just can’t be beat.

I know the whole cheese thing probably comes as a shock. I’ll give you a minute to decompress.


So not only are there garbanzo and cannellini beans in this dip, there is spicy, cheesy arugula pesto layered and swirled throughout.

I love it as a dip itself, but I imagine it would be just as delicious on sandwiches and salads.


Two Bean Pesto Dip

makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans

1 1/2 cups cooked cannellini beans

1/4 cup pesto (I used arugula pesto)

1/3 cup olive oil (may need a bit more)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

In a food processor, combine beans and process. Stream in olive oil slowly until desired consistency is reached. Add salt, pepper and garlic and continue to blend.

Add to a bowl and layer with pesto. You can also just mix directly with pesto.

Serve with pita or tortilla chips.



I probably would have learned to love hummus earlier in life, but it wasn’t something we ever had when we were younger.

Case in point: my mom recently asked me if hummus was made with cannoli beans. You can learn two things from this statement. First, we didn’t eat many beans growing up either, unless they were of the baked variety. Second, we clearly aren’t Italian.