Beetroot Hummus

I am not a huge beet fan, but the picture in the cookbook made it look too cool to pass up. And actually, it tastes mostly like regular hummus but with a slight, pleasant sweetness. While it is a little more work than the average hummus recipe, it pays off in "wow" presentation with a gorgeous magenta color.

The original recipe came from a book I found in the bargain bin at Borders called Vegetarian Cooking: A Commonsense Guide, which has no cited author or editor but appears to be a part of Rupert Murdoch's empire. (It is also the source of all the recipes I made for my Feb. 28 dinner except for the mashed eggplant and grasshopper pie.) And as with the other recipes, I thought this was lacking a certain sumpin'-sumpin' as is, so I ended up modifying a bit by adding more of the ingredients to taste as well as salt and pepper. The way wrote the recipe below is the way I made it, and not exactly how it was written in the cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 500 g (1 lb. 2 oz.) beets
• 50 ml (2.5 fl. oz. / 1/3 cup) olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin, plus more to taste
  
• (1) 14-oz. can chickpeas, drained
• 1 tablespoon tahini, plus more to taste
• 80 g (2-1/4 oz. / 1/3 cup) plain yogurt
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 60 ml (2 fl. oz. / 1/4 cup) vegetable stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Scrub the beets well. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil, add the beets, and cook for 35-40 minutes, or until tender when pierced with the point of a sharp knife. Drain and cool slightly before peeling.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a frying pan. Saute the onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the cumin and a healthy pinch each of salt and pepper and cook for another minute, or until fragrant. Set aside and leave to cool slightly.
3. Chop the beets and place in a food processor or blender with the onion mixture, chickpeas, tahini, yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and stock. Blend until smooth; taste mixture and adjust spices to taste. With the motor running, add the remaining oil in a thin, steady stream. Blend until thoroughly combined.
   

Serve with anything else you would serve with hummus: crackers, pita, fresh veggies, etc.