Quittin' time and you want a plate of something savory, a sip something cool. Skip the fatty bar food and beer and breeze into the twilight hours with our belle's guilt-free butterbean crostini. Pour a crisp rosé for your guests and they just might declare,"Perfect--it's as light as a white with the body of a red!" Just make sure to pre-open those bottles and serve the same wine throughout. After all, when it's happy hour, the livin' should be easy. --Brooke Parkhurst

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Herbed Butterbean Crostini

(serves 8 guests, 3 crostini per guest)
1 baguette, sliced into rounds*
2 heads endive**
2 15.5-oz cans butter beans or habas grandes
Extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon, juiced
1 ½ tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
4 tsp. chopped Italian parsley
3 oz. Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated, or 4 oz. Pecorino Romano, thinly sliced
Kosher salt (to taste)
Freshly ground pepper (to taste)

*I prefer whole wheat baguettes.
**Endive is a nice low-carb substitute.

Preheat oven to 300°. Slice baguette horizontally into ¼-in. thick rounds (do not angle knife when cutting) and place on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Toast until crisp, 12-15, minutes.

Open cans of butter beans and strain liquid into a bowl. Reserve liquid. In a medium-sized skillet over medium heat, pour 4 tbsp. olive oil and add chopped shallot and minced garlic. Cook until aromatic but no color. Add beans and warm through. Continue by adding 4 tbsp. of reserved liquid and allow mixture to slightly reduce. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Transfer 3/4 of warm beans to food processor. Reserve the rest--the best-looking, intact beans--to nestle on top of crostini. Purée beans while drizzling approx 2-3 tbsp. olive oil into blender, until bean mixture becomes creamy and smooth.

In a small bowl, toss remaining whole beans with juice of one lemon, rosemary and Italian parsley.

Plate toasted baguette rounds and spread with approx. 1 tsp. of butter bean purée. Sprinkle Parmigiano on purée or place one thin slice of Pecorino on purée. Crown the crostini with a single butter bean. Gorgeous and guilt-free!