Beet Moutabel - Vegan Beet Hummus Recipe

We recently encountered this dish at a local middle eastern bistro, and liked it enough to learn how to make our own version. This version is extremely simple, but still quite delicious. It would be possible to add more things to it, such as eggplant, zucchini or cauliflower by roasting any of them and including them in the puree, or ricing/grating them and then stirring them in at the end. Indeed, there is a version wherein the beet is grated and stirred together with a tahini- based dressing. For simplicity, we just puree everything. Make this ahead if possible, as the flavors develop in the fridge and it will taste better the next day. Serve with warm pita bread, or pita chips, or corn chips, or crudite. Makes about 2.5 cups, enough for 12-16 people. Equipment: • baking/roasting dish, ideally with cover • food processor or serious immersion blender • serving/storage dish Ingredients: 1 lb beet 2-3 ea green cardamom pods 1 bulb garlic separated but not necessarily peeled 1 Tbsp black peppercorns 1-3 cloves garlic peeled 3/4 cup tahini 1/3 cup lemon juice water 1-2 Tbsp parsley or other green herb for garnish Procedure: 1. Scrub and trim the beets, and place them into the baking dish. 2. Add the cardamom pods and optionally-peeled cloves of an entire bulb of garlic. 3. Add salt to taste, and water to come about 3/4 of the way up the beets. 4. Cover the dish and place it into the oven at 350F for 30-45 min, until the beets are tender to a fork. 5. Remove the beets to a pie tin or plate and allow to cool. 6. Using a towel or stout paper towel, rub the peels off the beets once they’re cool enough to handle. 7. Roughly chop the beets just to fit them into the food processor or blender jar. 8. Add the lemon juice, tahini, any desired additional salt, and blend to puree. 9. Add water to lighten the consistency if desired; we liked it thick and so added no additional water. Another option would be to use a small amount of olive oil to adjust consistency. Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-...