Roasted Beet Hummus

I am just drawn to the color of beets. They make any dish look absolutely beautiful! I’ve done a couple of other beet dishes on here (Beet Risotto, Gemelli with Brown Butter Beet Sauce, and Roasted Beets with Tahini, to name a few) so when I saw this recipe for Roasted Beet Hummus in the latest Cooking Light I knew I had to make it.

Hummus is really easy to prepare and the addition of the beets makes this one a show stopper. Whip up a batch of this to serve with a crudite platter at your next gathering!

Ingredients:

• 2 red beets
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 8 garlic cloves, halved
• grated lemon rind of two lemons
• fresh lemon juice from two lemons
• 1/4 walnut oil (or good olive oil)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Trim the stem of the beets to just 1 inch, discarding the rest of the stem. Leave the root on the beets. Scrub with a brush to clean.

Wrap the beets in foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes.

Add the walnuts and garlic to the pan and bake for 7 more minutes or until the nuts are toasted.

Remove the sheet from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

When the beets are cool, trim off the beet root and rub off the skin. If the skin doesn’t easily come off, the beets may need another 10 minutes in the oven.

Note: As a warning, beets stain anything and everything, including your hands. You can use gloves or just do a bit of scrubbing afterwards.

 

Roughly chop the beets into quarters and reserve.

 

Add the garlic to the food processor and process until finely chopped.

Add the beets and process until finely chopped as well.

Add the walnuts, lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, and chickpeas and process until smooth.

You can immediately taste the beets and toasted walnuts and it is so good!

This is nice and creamy too, perfect for dipping!