This Roasted Beet and Feta Hummus is a show-stopper with its beautiful pink colour and smooth, subtly sweet flavour! This is a continuation of my local Nova Scotia food series, featuring fresh, local beets!
I. Hate. Beets.
You heard me. I mean, just look at them:
Gross. All root-y and dirt-y.
THEY TASTE LIKE DIRT, OKAY? Seriously. In this nightshade-free adventure, I have tried and eaten so many beet recipes. “Here, make this No-mato sauce! It tastes exactly like tomato sauce!” LIARS. It tastes like beets! The only thing the same is the colour!
Maybe it was my fault… maybe I was expecting too much from the beets… maybe I should have stopped trying to ask them to taste like tomatoes. Whatever the reason, I have been burned by beets one too many times.
So you can imagine my trepidation when one of our friends asked if I wanted to try her roasted beet and feta salad. She said it was delicious. I was skeptical, but I’ll try most things once.
And she was right. It was… amazing. Gone was the dirt taste, replaced instead by a smooth, subtle sweetness, accentuated by the salty bite of feta. It was magic.
Inspired by the gorgeous purple colour of the beets, I decided to mix it with my recipe for 2 Minute Hummus, so that if it was a complete disaster I could still look at it and eat it with tortilla chips and call it a win. It was totally a win. I practically had to smack away fingers with my spoon so that I could get enough hummus to take pictures! Needless to say it is now gone.
It has that same hint of sweetness, the sharp feta, and my favourite, garlic! This is not only the prettiest hummus, but also the tastiest I have ever made.
It starts simply, roast those beets! I actually roasted mine the night before, and they worked great! Roasting beets is so easy. Just peel ’em, toss ’em in a big sheet of tinfoil, drizzle with some olive oil, fold into a packet and bake on a cookie sheet with sides for 45 mins to an hour at 350°. You should be able to spear them easily with a fork.
Then toss all your ingredients in a blender and press go! Like all hummus it will take a while to be all blended. You’ll have to stop now and then to do some stirring by hand, making sure it’s all smooth. And when it’s done…
You’ll have the prettiest hummus around! Drizzle with some more olive oil, and toss the rest of the feta on top. You can’t really taste it when it’s blended in the hummus, it just helps to make it more creamy!
Seriously. That colour. Hrrrrngh.
My fingers may have been dyed that colour permanently, and that is 100% okay with me!
The moral of the story, I guess, is to never turn down when someone offers to share their food with you! You just might discover something amazing about something you thought you hated.
Have you ever been proven wrong about food? What changed your mind?
- 3 small beets
- 1 Tbsp + 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 inch square cubes + 2 inch square cubes feta cheese
- 810 mL (about 27 fl oz., or a large can and a half) chickpeas, drained, with the juice set aside.
- 1 head of garlic , minced
- splash lemon juice
- dash of salt
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Heat the oven to 350°F
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Peel the beets and place on a sheet of tin foil on a baking sheet with sides.
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Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Fold the tin foil so the beets are wrapped in a packet.
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Bake for 45mins - 1 hr, until the beets can be easily speared with a fork.
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Remove from the oven, open the tin foil packet, and let cool at least 20 minutes.
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Add the beets, remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil and 3 inch square cubes of feta, chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice and salt to a blender.
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Add 3 Tbsp of chickpea juice, and begin to blend.
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You may need to stop the blender and CAREFULLY stir the mixture around with a spoon to make sure it is all blended evenly. Add more chickpea juice if necessary to desired consistency.
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Sprinkle the remaining 2 inch square cubes of the feta cheese on top, and serve with tortilla chips, bread, vegetables, whatever you like!
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