Roasted beetroot hummus

March 13, 2012 By Meg With 1 comment

Hummus is potentially one of my favourite foods. It wears many hats in my house: a dip, a spread, a topping, a sauce; my daughter eats it straight from the spoon. Made simply it is an amazing dish, but it also lends itself to great variation.

This weeks food matters project was hummus (see the original recipe here). I found some fabulous heirloom beetroot at the market today and so thought I would make it a beetroot hummus.

Check out the magnificent ‘chioggia’ beetroot which are paler skinned and have a beautiful circular pattern on the inside – so cute!

And as for nutritional content, beets are blessed with antioxidants, folate, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium and iron.

They also strengthen the heart, purify the blood and improve circulation.

So why wouldn’t you want to add it to your hummus!

The other main ingredient in hummus is no wallflower either. Chickpeas are a wonderful source of protein, potassium, iron, calcium and B vitamins. The secret (if you are using dried beans and cooking them yourself) is to soak them overnight (or longer) covered generously in water with a tablespoon of yoghurt, whey, buttermilk or a squeeze of lemon juice stirred through. This will help to break down the enzymes and make them easier to digest (read no bloating and wind – hooray!). Once you have soaked the beans, rinse and add to a pot, cover with water and simmer for around 2 hours (it can take between 1 and four hours depending on your beans) until chickpeas are tender. Adding a small piece of kombu to the cooking water will help this process.