Pretty in Pink: Beet Hummus

I find it amazing how few ingredients are pink.  And most people (including myself) are surprised when something pink does arrive on their plates.  I have 3 instances.

1) My mom’s beet and carrot salad.  Gorgeous fuchsia hue…..super delicious,but super weird.  Alas, it served me well convincing my then 5-year-old daughter to eat a salad because it was “pink”.

2) Chicken Shalimar.  Shalimar is a great Pakistani restaurant here in Barcelona.  They have their house dish that is chicken that comes in a bubble gum pink sauce.  It tastes like coconut, so the only thing I can imagine is that it is a beet and coconut sauce.  It’s ridiculously good, if you’re wondering.

3) Beet hummus.  I made this a while ago, and thought it was just divine.  The addition of beets turns the hummus this beautiful, deep pink, and makes it oh that much more healthy.  It still surprises me every time when I make it though, kind of like, wow……this is interesting.

So, those are my surprising moments.  I have eaten hummus my entire life.  It’s a staple in my family, being of Syrian/Egyptian descent, but beet hummus?  I started eating that recently.  So, since this week I call my get back to a more simpler healthy state week, I made this hummus.  And the whole family loves it.  It’s great as a dip, topping, or side, but my favorite is to stuff it into pita bread, or a wrap with a whole bunch of fresh veggies, such as cucumber, carrot, tomatoes, sprouts and avocados.  Add a little lemon and oil, and you’re good to go!  A perfect pink pita (or wrap).  Heee…that makes me smile. I hope it will make you smile too!

So here’s what you’re going to need:

400g cooked chickpeas

1/4 cup tahine (I like a lot, feel free to add less)

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 garlic clove, minced

Juice from one lemon

1/2 beet, chopped

1/4  cup olive oil (I say this much, because it always depends, you can use up to this much, but usually less.  Have it on hand when you are blending, if you like it chunkier, add less, smoother, add more.)

1 tsp cayenne powder

Salt and pepper to taste.

In a blender or cup of an immersion blender, add the chickpeas, tahine, cumin, garlic, beet and 2 tbsp of the olive oil.  Puree until smooth.  Add the lemon juice a little at a time, tasting to see how much you want in it.  Same with the oil, if it’s too chunky for you, add some more olive oil.  When you get it to your desired consistency and acidity, add the cayenne, salt and pepper.

So easy, so healthy.  So so so delicious!

From my kitchen to yours,

Carla