Fancy Pants Snack Recipe

If it weren’t for the fact that I’m putting pressure on myself to make money, I would be extremely content with life. Which is to say that right now, I’m very content. I don’t really feel like I do anything during the day that sounds particularly exciting, but I always go to bed mostly satisfied with my day and excited for the next to start.

Today, for instance, I brought Nathaniel a snack while he studied at school. Honestly, how lame does that sound? If I read that on someone else’s blog before this year, I would assume she’s the oppressed housewife who slaves away cooking and cleaning and changing diapers while her husband gets to expand his mind with the exciting study of the law.

However, bringing Nathaniel that snack was the best part of my great day.

As I drove home from Costco (I’m addicted to those uncooked tortillas you get there; I can’t help it), I called Nathaniel to plan out our evening together and I mentioned that if he got hungry, I’d bring him something. He jumped on the offer immediately.

While Summer was napping, I looked around for something to get him and felt completely uninspired. We had lots of random stuff, and ingredients for good meals, but nothing quick and snack-like. Maybe I’d just bring him a can of green beans.

When I opened the freezer for the fifth time, I decided I needed to do something with that Sourdough loaf I’d gotten at WalMart for half off. Garlic bread? I looked in the pantry, again, and saw we had a can of Cannellini beans that I got on sale. Italian bean dip?

I have heard that being an attorney in the internet age is really just highly-specialized googleing. My law school education bears that out and I can find anything on the internets. I quickly found a recipe that was fast and easy. As luck would have it, I had all the ingredients.

So I made bean dip. I pulled the cover off of the food processor and scooped a bit of the creamy dip into my mouth. Yum. Basically an Italian version of hummus. I sliced the sourdough bread and broiled it on both sides until it was slightly charred, and I had a pretty fancy pants snack for stuff that I just had laying around.

When I unwrapped the toasted bread for Nathaniel, I was proud. I had used my internet skills and resourcefulness to make something awesome and save Nathaniel from either spending money on some mediocre food product or, more likely, from having a hunger headache.

After Nathaniel had finished eating, we talked about how his research for his second memo was going as he dangled Summer from her feet. As I looked at the two of them laughing and at the Tupperware with the leftover dip, I knew I’d never be this happy working at a law firm.

Cannellini Bean Dip

From Inn Cuisine, who got it from Giada.

· 1/3 cup Olive Oil

· 1 teaspoon dried Oregano

· 1/2 teaspoon Salt, plus more to taste

· 1/4 teaspoon Pepper, plus more to taste

· 1 (15 ounce) can Cannellini Beans, drained & rinsed

· 1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh flat-leaf Parsley Leaves (I used dried because who uses fresh parsley often enough to keep it on hand?)

· 2 tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice (from about 1/2 a lemon)

· 1 clove Garlic

Put it in the food processor and go to town.