Roasted Beet Hummus

One of my favorite things about being a new found food blogger is all of the freebies. No, unfortunately Bailey's has yet to wise up yet and realized that they should send me free bottles of Irish Cream to promote on my blog (yet). Nor have I received any real invites from restaurants that want me to review their food. However, I do have a bunch of awesome friends and family that keep giving me food and random kitchen supplies they never use asking "Is this something you could use for your blog!?"

Typically it's the castoffs that I get; The food that they bought a bit too much of or, in this case, the food that they were given but really don't want. Enter the big bag of beets that I've had in my fridge this week.

I heard one time of making hummus with beets instead of chickpeas. But I love chickpeas. And I love a good simple hummus recipes. So, why not make that simple hummus recipes...with a few beets added in? That's what this recipes is.

Let's do it.

First we need to roast our beets in the panggangan for a bit. About 2-3 medium beets will do the trick but, don't let me stop...add in more if you like. I won't tell. Alternatively, if you just like a good pink hummus and you want the color without any of the flavor, one little beet will get you there.

Wrap your beets up, with a bit of oil, nice and snug in tin foil and bake them for a bit.

You'll know they're done when you stick a fork in them and they have about the softness of a cooked potato.

Stick em in the fridge while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.

Pour those little chickpeas, some garlic (loads of it if you're me), a little lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and cumin all into your food processor or blender.

Oh, and add the beets once they're cooled down a bit. Don't forget those!

Blend it allllll up for about 30 seconds.

Add in about 2-3 tablespoons of water and blend for another 30-45 seconds.

Keep blending and processing until you get the creamy consistency that you want.

Voila!! The prettiest hummus you ever did see!

Drizzle with a little extra olive oil, sprinkle with paprika and some lemon zest, and enjoy the heck out it!

And smile as people look at you like you're crazy for eating such a thing :)

Roasted Beet Hummus
Ingredients:
3 small-medium beets, stemmed and quartered
15 oz can of chickpeas
Juice of one large lemon (about 2-3 tablespoons)
3 medium cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of olive oil, divided, plus more for serving
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons water
optional: 1/4 cup tahini

Directions:
To roast beets: Place beets and about 1 tablespoon olive oil in tin foil and wrap up tightly. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes-an hour. Let cool in fridge for about 20 minutes.
For Hummus:
1) Combine cooled beets, chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and cumin (plus the optional tahini) all into your food processor or blender.
2) Process for 30 seconds.
3) Add in about 2-3 tablespoons of water and blend for another 30-45 seconds.
4) Continue to blend and process until you get the creamy consistency that you want.
5) Drizzle a bit of olive oil and lemon zest on top and ENJOY!