Friday, April 09, 2010

Beet Hummus


When they invented the words "manna from heaven", THIS is what they must've taken a lick of. Beets take Hummus to a whole new level of orgasmic delight! I normally reserve the term "orgasmic" for only chocolate based foods, so you can see how serious I am about Beet Hummus.

It's just as simple to make as regular Hummus, so try it out for yourself and you'll know what I mean.

I want to shower a thousand blessings upon Julia for sharing the link of the original recipe with all of us at the EtsyVeg group. Until that moment, I had not fathomed the addition of Beets into Hummus. And now, my Hummus making days have changed forever!

As always, I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my tastes. I've served it over organic red rice and topped it with a herb chutney (the green of the chutney looked so pretty with the deep pink of the hummus, I couldn't resist placing them together for the picture hehe). All of them tasted yummy together, but believe me when I say, the hummus tasted quite heavenly by itself too! You can just keep eating it in spoonfuls, straight from the container (like ice cream). So just be warned before you make some. :)

Beet Hummus

2 Medium Sized Beets - peeled, diced and cooked
2 Cups Cooked Chickpeas (I recommend starting with dry chick peas, soaking them using the Quick Soak Method* and then cooking them)
5-10 small cloves of garlic (depends on how garlicky you like it)
2-3 Shallots (Sambar Onions)
1 t Tahini (or dry roasted sesame seeds)
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 T Nutritional Yeast (optional)
To taste - red chilli flakes, coriander powder, salt, freshly squeezed lemon juice

Grind/Process everything together (except the olive oil). Use enough of the cooking liquid from the beets/chickpeas and blend everything to a smooth paste. With the food processor running, drizzle in the Olive Oil and continue to blend until it gets incorporated completely. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Use more of the cooking liquid and blend until desired consistency is reached. Put into an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Hummus tastes delicious soon after it's made but it tastes best after a day of sitting in the fridge because the flavors develop well by then.

Beet Hummus

*Quick Soak Method (can be used for all beans) - Bring a pot of water to boil. Wash beans and put into the boiling water. Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let it sit for 1-4 hours. Drain and throw out the soaking water completely and wash the beans. This removes 80-90 % of the flatulence causing properties inherent in most beans, hence making them even more healthier. The beans are now ready to be cooked, either in a pressure cooker (much quicker) or in a pot of boiling water (takes a couple of hours depending on the type of bean involved).

6 comments:

  1. I can't get over how gorgeous that hummus is!

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  2. Monique, yeah its really beautiful to look at. Always makes me wish I weren't eating it so quickly but then it tastes so good that it can't be helped but pigged upon! LOL

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  3. I love beets, never thought of adding them to hummus.

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  4. Yeah I hadn't either but when I heard about it for the first time I knew they would be perfect together! :)

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  5. This looks delicious, I love the colour, and I love beets. I must try this.

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