Thursday 14 March 2013

Beetroot & Bean Houmous

I think my brain was away on holiday when I went food shopping last weekend. It’s not been long since I finally finished munching my way through a large bunch of fresh beetroot, and getting a bit fed up with it by the end. You might think this would mean I wouldn’t want any more for at least a few weeks. Well, this is what I thought too, but when I saw beetroot on offer over the weekend I somehow ended up coming back with two more packs of the stuff – yes two!

It was on offer, one of those 89p for one or £1 for two offers. My brain thought “oh I have some goat’s cheese in the fridge that beetroot would be really tasty with, I’ll get some.” Then when I spotted the offer, well it was too good to pass up. Thankfully this time the beetroot was the cooked, vacuum packed kind (not vinegary), so it will keep for a few weeks, but honestly! What am I like? I’m not normally taken in by offers, but somehow I can never pass up a fruit and veg offer.

Once home I was determined to use up a good portion of it in a different style to just salads and sandwiches. I decided on beetroot houmous. Perfect fodder for taking to work for lunch. Rather than use chickpeas, I decided to use a tin of black eyed beans. I really like the texture of these beans, they seem softer and creamier than chickpeas, which can sometimes be a bit chalky.

I adore the colour of the houmous once finished, a real vibrant pinky purple. It made me smile just to look at it. It retained a slightly coarse texture which was nice, with little flecks of bean or beetroot scattered throughout. The earthy woodsy flavour of the beetroot was livened up by a generous squirt of lemon juice and zest. Along with its almost psychedelic colour it made the perfect sunny lunch time food, adding a bit of brightness and freshness to what has otherwise been a very cold and dreary week. I’ve been taking little pots of it into work and slathering it onto hot toast at lunchtime, delicious.

So although I may have got carried away buying two packs of beetroot for a single person, long live beetroot I say!

Beetroot & Bean Houmous
Ingredients
200g cooked, peeled beetroot
400g tin black eyed beans
Zest & juice of ½ lemon
2 tsp Henderson’s relish (or balsamic vinegar)
2 tsp olive oil
½ tsp dried oregano
Salt, pinch

Method
Place the beetroot into a food blender and blitz until finely minced, you don’t want puree, a few chunky flakes are fine.
Drain the beans and add to the beetroot. Blitz again until a thick chunky puree is achieved, scraping down the sides when necessary.
Add the oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, oregano, Henderson’s relish and a pinch of salt. Blitz again until a coarse houmous-like texture is achieved. A few little chunks or flecks of bean or beetroot are fine and actually add a nice texture.
Transfer to a lidable container, and store in the fridge for up to one week.
Enjoy with crackers, toast, veg crudités, salads, sandwiches or jacket potatoes…basically anything you fancy!

6 comments:

Caroline said...

Stunning colour! Beetroot is a veg I am yet to learn to like but perhaps this is the way to do it. I am an absolute sucker for an offer, I really need to try harder not to be taken in by offers for things I don't need! At least the beetroot will keep for a while.

The Caked Crusader said...

Great colour - and natural! I am a total sucker for offers and then drive myself mad trying to use it all!

Emily said...

Ooh it's so pretty. I love the pink.

Choclette said...

Now that is a gorgeous colour and a great idea for lunchtime. I know what you mean about chickpeas - sometimes they are great and sometimes they are really grainy. Black eyed beans are my favourite, but I've never tried making a pate out of them before. Will have to try it.

I've just made a load of beetroot muffins for my work lunches - long live beetroot indeed :)

Anonymous said...

this looks really cool!!! Am going to have to try it! Becky

Glutton for Gluten and Good Food said...

I've just found you're blog today and think you have some great things on here. I love the look and colour of this recipe, it's something that I'll be putting on my list of things to try. Always looking for some gluten free options, particularly things I can take to work with me.