There’s something magical about a good bean dip. Sometimes it’s the perfect hummus, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with paprika. Other times it’s a spicy black bean dip threatening to ooze over the side of your organic blue corn chip if you don’t scoop it into your mouth in time.

But today, I’m thinking about white bean dip. In the wintertime, white bean dip is perfect with sun-dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and crusty bruschetta. Summertime brings a lighter, lemony bean dip served with veggies and crispy brown rice crackers. Making a delicious white bean dip is criminally simple, and the one I made this weekend should land me life in prison. Yeah, that was totally hokey, but the bean dip really was good!

Easy White Bean Dip with Garlic and Fresh Herbs

Ingredients:

• 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/3 cup mixed fresh herbs, packed (I used parsley, basil, sage, thyme and rosemary)
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice

Add beans and garlic to food processor and blend. Add all other ingredients, starting with the lower amounts of olive oil and lemon juice and adding more until you get the consistency you like. That’s it! I served this bean dip — poolside! — with brown rice crackers and raw veggies: red peppers, carrots, snap peas, broccoli.

There’s a bunch of other ways you could enjoy this bean dip:

• spread on a sandwich with roasted peppers and baby spinach, and maybe a slice of salami or two
• fill celery sticks with it
• in pita bread
• make it a bit thinner, make a puddle on a plate, surround it with greens and serve fish or chicken on it