Easy Beet Hummus Recipe Without Added Oils

Do you happen to have leftover beets? Then, I invite you to prepare this easy variant of hummus.

Besides, of course, beets, we will be using some lime juice and fresh dill in it, which enhance the natural sweetness of beets.

What we will not be putting in is added oils though. Traditional hummus does not have any oil in it; oil is drizzled on top instead. So that’s what we will be doing. Personally, I do not recommend putting any additional oil in home made hummus or other spreads if they already contain nut or seed butters, like tahini or peanut butter. The reason, besides sticking to the tradition, is that these butters already have enough fat in it, and we don’t want to go overboard with added fats. Feel free to drizzle a little of extra virgin olive oil on top if you’d like.

Lastly, using ice instead of water makes the texture smoother and lighter, more like mousse like, thanks to the air that is contained in the ice crystals. My preference is crushed ice for practical reasons, but with a good blender, ice cubes are fine too. Otherwise, you can use cold water.

Like any other bean spread, the beet hummus can be used as a high fiber, high protein snack, spread in sandwiches, dressing in bows and much more.

Ingredients

Makes about 2 cups.

• 15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed
• 1/2 cup cooked beets (roasted is best, but you can use any other, even canned)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1/4 cup tahini
• Juice of half lemon
• Juice of half lime
• 1 tbsp fresh dill (optional)
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin (optional)
• Ice (crushed is ideal) or cold water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil to drizzle (optional)

Instructions

1. Helpful tip and best practice: Put the garlic in the blender alone first and process it as much as possible – we don’t want to find large pieces of garlic in our spreads!
2. Add the rest of ingredients and blend.
3. Add the ice/water little by little and as needed. I do not give quantities because it will depend on the chickpeas themselves and how you like your hummus. I like mine quite dense. I probably used about 1/2 cup.
4. Taste for herbs and seasonings and adjust.
5. Drizzle olive oil on top if desired.
6. Serve with crudites (cucumber works great), crackers or toasts.