Thanks to Becca who takes care of our plants for the inspiration for this recipe (If you are in Seattle and want to hire someone with a green thumb to make your life lusher, Becca is your fertility goddess.  Just email me and I’ll give you her info).

I am presenting this recipe backwards.  What you see here on top of the crackers is white bean puree, steamed and chopped kale, a drizzle of olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of flor de sal.

I’m glad I got that out of the way, because now the only thing I need to describe is how I made the bean puree.  So, here’s how:

1) Soak and cook the beans.  I started with about 2 cups of dried cannelini beans.  Reserve a couple cups of the cooking water for later use. 

2) Caramelize some onions.  Do a bunch of onions so that you have lots left over for other dishes.  I used about  a cup of caramelized onions for this dish.

3) Saute some chopped carrots, celery, garlic and mushrooms.  Any kind of mushrooms will do.  I used reconstituted dried shitake because that is what I had on hand.  You want to end up with about a cup and a half of sauteed vegetables.

4) Put the beans and vegetables in the food processor.  Think hummus.  Process it.  If it is dry, add olive oil or the reserved cooking water until you get to the right consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add some vinegar or lemon juice to get just a subtle bite of acidity.  I used about 1/2 tablespoon of champagne vinegar.

Build the crackers, as described above.

If you want a shopping list, here it is:

2 cups dried beans

2 onions

3 carrots

3 celery stalks

3 bulbs garlic

1 handful of dried or fresh mushrooms

Olive oil

Aged Balsamic Vinegar

Salt & Pepper to taste

Vinegar of your choice

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