I just love Hummus! It's such a simple, healthy, delicious snack.

These days, whenever I whip up a batch of hummus, I always make 3 different flavours, the original, pumpkin hummus (my fave!) and roasted beetroot hummus (which my husband loves!).

This beetroot hummus is a fabulous source of plant-based protein, fibre, manganese and B vitamins, not to mention healthy phytonutrients! And did you know that beetroot is a wonderful source of super-healthy dietary nitrate? The nitric oxide in beetroot is a potent vasodilator. That means it relaxes our blood vessels, which can help with our blood pressure levels and oxygen transport.

I love serving all 3 flavours with with freshly cut vegetables. It's a great way to eat a rainbow of healthy veggies! AND it's a great way to include super-healthy Resistant Starch in your diet!

Ingredients

400g cooked (or canned) chickpeas
300g roasted beetroot
Juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons tahini
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil*
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar**
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey***
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

If you are making this completely from scratch, well firstly strut around like the domestic goddess you are! Strut right on over to your pantry, grab 1 1/2 cups of chick peas, place them in a bowl. Cover with water and leave to soak overnight. If you feel like some more strutting, then strut over to your bowl of soaking chickpeas and change the soaking water once or twice.

When your chickpeas have soaked for long enough, cook for an hour. Check your chickpeas are cooked through, drain and leave to cool.

While you are cooking your chickpeas, chop and peel 2-3 beetroot, place on a baking tray and cook at 180 degrees for an 40 minutes to an hour or until completely cooked through.****

When cooked, set aside to cool.

Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth, pausing a few times to scrape down the sides.

Once the hummus has reached your desired consistency, serve and enjoy!

* you can add more or less olive oil depending on the consistency you desire.

** Trust me on this: the apple cider vinegar adds a delicious tang to this dish!

***This is optional, and some would say completely unnecessary, but trust me ok? Adding that teeny tiny amount of sweetness does something magical, and once you've tried it this way I promise you will never go back to boring old non-honey-or-maple-syrup hummus.

*** If you can't face the prospect of peeling and chopping beetroot, just pop them whole and unpeeled into a pot of boiling water and simmer until cooked through. Remove and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scrape off the skin.