White Bean, Artichoke & Radish Dip with Crispy Topping

This dip may be a little “extra”, what with the crispy chickpea, artichoke, and walnut topping and because of how it highlights technicolor radish and daikon varieties, but all you need are your run-of-the-mill radish variety and basic pantry ingredients to whip up (literally) a simple and special dip that is lighter than hummus but complete enough for a plant-based meal.

Yes, this dip is “extra”. On a good day, she’s a dip that incorporates fancy, technicolor daikon and other radish varieties for a lovely pink hue. And in this post, you will see that in the photos and some of the discussion. But don’t be scared off, because all you need are basic radishes and some pantry ingredients to make this recipe. I’ve made it aspirational, but you can ignore all that. What I think you definitely should include, though is the crispy topping of roasted chickpeas, artichoke shards, and chopped walnuts. It turns this lighter-than-hummus recipe into a filling plant-based meal you can serve with a side of veggies, crackers, bread or chips.

Love Radishes? Try my Roasted Radishes with Avocado Crema for another mellow and delicious-tasting radish recipe (that you can make not so mellow by including Jalapeno in the Crema).

Above: At left are a white, pink, and purple daikon radish, and at right are a watermelon radish, standard radish and a red turnip!

Types of radishes you can use in this recipe

• Daikon Radishes – These are those long white vegetables you see in the product section. They are fairly mild and can be braised or eaten raw. Here we blanch them to blend smoothly into the dip. High in vitamin C and potassium, daikon are very nutritious. I found pink and purple varieties at a farmer’s market recently, but you are most likely to find a white one to try in this recipe. Again, you can stick with regular radishes, this is just an option.
• Radishes – Standard pink-skinned radishes are the easiest to find, as well as watermelon radishes, which I highlighted here as well (bright fuschia flesh in the photos). A fun fact is that radishes get their peppery flavor from the fact they are in the mustard family.
• Turnips – I included a Scarlet (a.k.a. pink) turnip in this recipe. Turnips vary quite a bit in how they look, but interestingly, the turnip, traditional radish and daikons I used all tasted very similarly.

Why this recipe works

This dip takes a cue from hummus with lemon and tahini, but the white beans create a creamier and milder flavored dip than hummus. Also, including artichoke hearts, blanched radishes, and less tahini makes a lighter dip. It’s a great way to use radishes in a new way, where blanching them makes them mild (no more peppery radishes), and the pink hue is just pure fun. The crispy and nutty topping adds interest and additional flavor. Finally, aside from blanching the radishes and roasting the toasty topping, it’s a breeze to whip up with a few pantry/staple ingredients such as white beans, artichoke hearts, lemon, tahini and garlic.

Step-by-step instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 for the crispy chickpea topping, and proceed as follows while the oven heats:

Whatever type of radish or combination of radishes you would like to use, chop them and blanch them in enough water to cover them for up to 5 minutes, depending on how small you chop them. The goal is to mellow out any peppery flavor in the radishes. They should be fork-tender but not mushy. Drain them of the water.

Place all ingredients except the lemon and olive oil in the food processor and blend until smooth (30 sec. to a minute).

Add the juice of 1 lemon, one half at a time, so you can taste for how much tartness you prefer. Same for adding the olive oil. The olive oil is used more for a smooth mouthfeel, so feel free to increase or eliminate depending on your preference.

Taste for salt and pepper, including the Aleppo chili flakes or smoked paprika, to get the right amount of salty smokiness you like.

Make the crispy chickpea, artichoke, and walnut topping, using drained, canned chickpeas and artichoke hearts canned in water. You will want to rinse both. You can leave the chickpeas whole (shown in photos at the top of post) or break them up as shown below, for more crispiness. I have done both. Break up the artichoke hearts into small pieces so they can roast and their edges can get a bit crispy. Chop the walnuts up but leave them aside, as we won’t add them initially (they take less time to roast). Toss the chickpeas and artichoke hearts with the oil and seasoning, spread out on sheet pan and roast in the hot oven until almost done. Add the walnut pieces, toss with the rest and roast another few minutes until you smell the roasty walnuts. Stay nearby so as not to burn the walnuts.

Tips for making & serving this dip

You can serve this recipe right away, warm from the food processor with the warm toasty topping and a drizzle of olive oil, or you can chill the dip and wait to make the topping right before serving so that the crispy topping is toasty and warm.

Take the time to adjust the seasonings, lemon, and olive oil at the end of blending the dip. This is a key part of the process because the ingredients are mild, and you don’t want to overpower them, nor do you want a bland-tasting dip.

This dip is just as delicious without the topping, as shown below. A heavy drizzle of olive oil (if you like) and some Aleppo chili flakes or paprika and this dip is fire on its own ;).