Beetroot Hummus

Since we've been on our sourdough bread baking frenzy I can barely remember the last time we actually bought bread from a store. It's been so fun getting back to basics and making this household staple ourselves. My husband has even been more enthusiastic than I have, preparing the dough in the evenings then getting up early to bake it. He'd never even baked before, let alone baked bread, and now he has produced countless wonderful loaves, and they are getting better all the time. One more step towards living the "Good Life".

So with all this bread in the house we thought we better rustle up some spread or dip. Hummus is a favourite of ours, so we thought we'd try a twist on it, and make beetroot hummus for a change. Even though I love beetroot I was worried the flavour might be too earthy for a dip, but I was wrong. Beets impart a lovely flavour and mild sweetness, not to mention a pretty colour (come on, how rad is that pink!). It's a tasty addition and any health benefits are an added bonus. Just add cooked beetroot to your regular hummus recipe before you whiz it up. You can even use tinned beetroot if you don't have fresh. If using fresh beetroot just wrap them in tin foil and roast them at 180 Celsius for about an hour, then let them cool then peel with a vegetable peeler.

This is the basic recipe I use, but feel free to add ingredients like tahini or toasted nuts (like walnuts or pecans) to jazz up your hummus even more. Taste as you go and customize it. The beetroot hummus can be used in any of the ways you ordinarily like to use hummus, it goes great in wraps and sandwiches or with kebabs or just as a simple dip.

Enjoy!

p.s: I am entering this recipe into the LeaderBrand competition to celebrate the launch of their ready-to-serve beetroot. I thought I'd enter this older recipe as I make it so often and have been doing so for years, it's a definite favourite of mine and their new ready-to-serve product would be ideal to use in this recipe. Anything that saves time in the kitchen is a bonus!


BEETROOT HUMMUS

Ingredients:

2 roasted and peeled beetroot (approx 200gms cooked beetroot)

400g cooked chickpeas (tinned is fine, just drain them)

1 teaspoon cumin powder
3 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
Juice of a lemon

A splash of olive oil

Method:

Just whiz everything together in a food processor or blender etc. 

Easy as that!

Makes approx 600ml