I love Beetroot hummus, and beetroot is one of my favourite superfoods. Beetroot is a great source of many essential vitamins and minerals. Beetroots are high in folate, manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C.
- Folate (vitamin B9) is important for normal tissue growth and cell function. It’s very important in pregnancy too.
- Manganese is an essential trace element that is often very low in our soils these days so eating more beetroot is a great way to boost these levels
- Potassium helps to reduce blood pressure levels and has been shown to have positive effects on heart health
- Iron is an essential mineral and has many important functions in your body, including the transport of oxygen in red blood cells
- Vitamin C This well-known vitamin is a powerful antioxidant vital for immune function, skin health, wound healing and overall vitality. The market is flooded with synthetic vitamin C (which is simply an expensive pee) so eating more beetroot is s great way to boost your levels
Beetroot juice has numerous health benefits, including improved blood flow, lower blood pressure, and increased exercise performance. Many of these benefits are due to their high content of inorganic nitrates.
Beetroots are delicious raw but more frequently cooked or pickled. Their leaves — known as beet greens — can also be eaten.
I often just peel raw beetroot and grate it into my salads & stir-fries to give myself and my family a super food addition to many recipes.
Hummus is an easy snack with crudités, pita or crackers, but today I thought I would share my new beetroot hummus recipe that my family loves.
Beetroot gives traditional hummus a yummy earthiness for a healthy dip. You can also roast the beetroot instead of boiling it for this recipe to give a more intense, sweeter flavour.
Beetroot Hummus Ingredients
- Two medium to large beetroots
- A 400g tin of cooked organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- Two garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp light tahini
- 1-2 lemons medium
- Two pinches of ground paprika
- 1½ tsp ground cumin (use freshly ground cumin seeds if you can)
- Organic olive oil, about 2-3 tbsp, plus a little extra for drizzling
- Add a little extra ground cumin, some toasted sesame seeds, or a few shredded mint leaves as a garnish (optional)
- sea salt and pepper
Method
Prep time: 10 min
Cooking time: 50 min
- Step 1: Boil the beetroot until tender, about 45 minutes for medium to large ones.
- Step 2: Drain and leave until just cool enough to handle, then rub off the skins (they should come away quite easily).
- Step 3: Leave to cool completely, then roughly chop and put in a food processor with the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, juice of 1 lemon, paprika and cumin.
- Step 4: Blitz to a coarse paste, then gradually trickle in enough olive oil until you have a thick, smooth(ish) dip.
- Step 5: Taste and add salt, pepper and a little more lemon juice to taste, and garnish with chives & fresh chilli if desired. Serve with crudites or seeded crackers, or serve on sourdough toast with a little crumbled feta and a side salad to make a yummy meal.
