Roasted Beet Hummus

You’ll love dipping into this roasted beet hummus. The vibrant color and sweetness imparted from roasted beets are amazing!

Shake up the standard

For me, hummus is definitely a go-to dip, both at home and at restaurants, because it’s delicious and healthy, and also because it’s versatile – scoop it up with veggies or crackers, or spread it on sandwich bread with cheese and your favorite veggies. But for the most part, hummus is pretty…well…standard. Adding roasted beets to the mix really brightens things – both in color and flavor.

Keep the beet

I’ve been thinking about beets a lot lately. I just talked to my brother and he told me he recently picked all the beets from his garden and canned them to enjoy this winter. My sister, who’s famous for her beet soup, probably won’t be making much of it this fall since she’s about to welcome a little one into the world soon.

Roasting beets is easy, but you’ll need to carve out about an hour from your day. Slice the greens and the bottoms off your beets, wash them, then place them on a piece of foil and drizzle them with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, fold the foil over them and seal the edges to make a little package. Pop them in the oven and wait. Check the beets after about 30-35 minutes. You want them to be tender when poked with a fork. Allow them to cool slightly and use a paring knife to peel off the skin (the skin will come off easily).

So on behalf of beet lovers in my family and everywhere, I hope you try this recipe for roasted beet hummus and enjoy this colorful, tasty dip. If you really like beets, you’ll definitely want to try my recipe for baked beet chips – so good!

Recipe for Roasted Beet Hummus:
Yields 2 cups

INGREDIENTS

• 1, 15-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 small beets, roasted
• 1/4 cup tahini (if you don’t have tahini, mix 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon olive oil and blend in a food processor)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To roast the beets, first preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Cut off the tops and bottoms and wash them.
2. Place the beets on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
3. Fold the beets in the foil and seal the edges to make a packet. Place the packet in the oven for up to an hour, or until they’re tender when poked with a fork (check them after about 30 minutes).
4. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool to the touch. Peel off the skin with a paring knife (the skin should come off very easily).
5. Cut the beets in half and place them in a food processor with the other ingredients and blend.
6. Stop during blending and use a rubber spatula to push down the ingredients toward the bottom of the processor. Continue until smooth and well mixed.

Yields 2 cups