roasted beets – Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Roasted Red Beets Hummus, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

I am a bit on the roasted beets kick these days. I just shared how I used them in a salad, this post is all about a hummus I put together, and, believe it or not, I have a pile of roasted beets in the fridge that are waiting for me to figure out what to do with them.

Beets Roasting on a Grill, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

The batch in the fridge was roasted in the oven, and that method – cranking the heat to 425 F (220 C) and roasting them for about 30 to 45 minutes – will work here as well. But the beets that I used for this hummus were roasted on a grill. I recommend you try this next time you grill your veggies, tofu or try my Portobello Mushroom Steaks. Your grill will already be on so it’s perfect time to wrap your bits in some foil and toss them on!

The rest of this hummus recipe is super easy. You will need a large mixing bowl, two cans of chickpeas, rinsed and pat dried, some lemon juice, and a spoonful or two of almond butter, and all the lovely roasted beets, cooled and peeled. You will also need a hand-held, stick blender, and let it rip until everything is well blended and smooth. You can always use a good processor if you have one or a powerful blender. I have neither so hand-held, stick blender is my tool of choice.

What you’ll end up with is a nice pile of lovely and bright magenta hummus that will keep well in a plastic container with a tight lid for a week in the refrigerator.

Roasted Red Beets Hummus

What you’ll need:

3 red beets

2 15.5 oz (439 g) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), low sodium

3-4 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons almond butter

What you’ll do:

Roast the beets, let them cool and peel. You can roast them in the oven or on the grill. Either way I recommend wrapping them in foil. This will minimize the mess and speed up the roasting. Regardless of where you roast them, it will take about 30 to 45 minutes to get the beets roasted all the way through. Please note that you can eat beets raw, so you can actually skip the roasting all together. Roasting does help bring the natural sweetness of beets out more, so in my opinion it’s worth an effort.
Cut the roasted beets into cubes, and place into a food processor or the large mixing bowl.
Place the chickpeas into a strainer, rinse them well and pat dry.
Add chickpeas to the bits, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Serve any way you like. For me hummus is one of the best sandwich spreads ever, and this one works like a dream when paired with avocados!!!

Baby Kale with Roasted Beets and Leeks tossed with a Lemon Vinaigrette

What you’ll need:

3 beets

3 leeks

11 oz (312 g) baby kale

1 lemon, juice and zest

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Cooking spray

What you’ll do:

Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C).

Clean the leeks to remove all the sand and dirt that leeks usually come with. Dry well and place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spray with a generous amount of cooking spray.

Peel the beets and cut them to 1 in (2.5 cm) cubes. Place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.

Roast for 20 to 25 minutes.

Take out of the oven and let cool for several hours. You want the roasted vegetables to be at room temperature for this one!

To make the lemon vinaigrette, mix together juice and zest of one lemon, with the olive oil and Dijon mustard.

Place baby kale in a large salad bowl. Top with roasted beets and leeks, and drizzle the vinaigrette all over the salad. Toss everything together and serve!!!