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!