I was at a stand at a Farmers’ Market buying lima beans and giant, and I mean GIANT garlic cloves.

These.

At first I thought they were shallots, but no, they were actually garlic cloves. GIANT ones.

There’s garlic, and there’s GARLIC.

As I was about to turn and leave, my bag knocked down a box of beans, causing half of the contents to fly down on the ground.

These.

I was totally apologetic and the guy kept saying that it’s ok. But since I had knocked them down, the right thing to do was to buy them, even if there was only about half of the contents remaining.  So there I am with these beans, whose name I forgot.  They had the texture of black eyed peas, but a little more tender.  So that night, I righted my wrong.  I would cook both the beans and the GIANT garlic cloves together.

I placed the beans and about 6 GIANT garlic cloves in a pot of boiling water and a sprinkle of salt.  I boiled them at medium heat for about half an hour, or until the GIANT garlic cloves had the texture of hard butter.

Then I drained them, and used my handy mashed potato smasher to smash em good.

I spooned the mixture on a slice of french bread! This is obviously not for the garlic haters (half of the dip was GARLIC!). But don’t worry, it’s not too “garlicy” as is the case when garlic has been boiled or roasted for a long time – it actually turns a little sweet and very buttery.

Guess what I made with my leftover bean and garlic dip? I actually made patties out of them and fried them with my egg for breakfast.

When I say “patties,” I mean a big, hot mushy mess, but trust me, it’s pretty awesome.