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Red beet hummus is both a beautiful and super delicious way to add color and even more nutrients to our daily hummus fix, which is vegan and gluten-free. Make roasted beets or use canned (or even pickled) beets to make it fast and easy. Here you’ll find all of the info and tips you need for how to make hummus!
Weโre hitting the height of fall color here in Michigan. The intense reds and golds and burnt orange are lighting up even the grayest of days. I love the glory of it all, but here in the kitchen, Iโm looking out the window with a little (okay, a lot) of melancholy about what comes next: that massive loss of color along with the downing of the leaves and the browning of the grass and etc. etc. etc. Hi, Michigan.
But then, just as I start to think the colorless season is going to descend, Iโm reminded all around that if I just look up from my mini fall-season-changing pity party, there are color opportunities that will keep on coming.
Same with whatโs cooking. We can give extra TLC to the mujadara and the flavor is so bright this way, on a platter with arugula and the trimmings. The hummus, our weekly fuel around here, is of course perfect as is. Yet a change-up is exciting, an unexpected wake-up for the palate and the plate.
Enter beets, our perfect little nutrient-, color- and flavor-maker. Caveat to my beet attraction is that I love all things pink, including pink food. But anyway, weโve always used beets to pink up the lifft, turnip pickles. Lately Iโm exploring their natural pink color and rich earthy flavor (packed with healthy fiber, vitamin C, and more) in new ways.
I find in the hummus, the beet is gorgeous and with more beet on top, super flavorful. The method is as simple as adding a bit of the beet to the hummus when pureeing the chickpeas and getting the color as deep as you like, with no worries about crossing the line with too much beet flavor. Red beet hummus is delicious no matter how much you use. Then cut up the rest of the beet and top off the hummus with more.
Iโm thinking of a plate of red beet hummus next to a plate of herby green hummus or my avocado hummus recipe for the holidays and all winter long ought to be just the ticket to keep things colorful, merry and bright.
Red Beet Hummus
Ingredients
- 3-4 red beets, roasted, peeled, and cut in bite-sized pieces
- 3 cups cooked, drained chickpeas (peeled chickpeas will yield a smooth result)
- 1 clove garlic, green sprout removed
- 1/4 cup tahini
- Juice 1/2 lemon, plus more to taste
- Kosher or sea salt, to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- In the bowl of the food processor, puree 2 tablespoons of the roasted beet pieces with the chickpeas and garlic clove. Stop and scrape down the bowl as you go, processing for several minutes until everything is completely pureed. This mixture may be very thick and ball up in the processor, depending how much liquid may be left in the cooked chickpeas.
- Add the tahini, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Process, taste, and add more salt or lemon juice to adjust texture and taste as needed.
- For individual servings, spoon about ยผ cup of hummus on four small plates. Make a well in the centers using the back of the spoon, top with a spoonful of the beets, drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Or, on a larger plate, spoon all of the hummus and create a well in the center. Top with the beets, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
