Beet Horseradish Hummus
Hummus is an infinitely adaptable dish, for some it is a nod towards ethnic cuisine, for others, a protein packed essential in a meat free diet. I like hummus for its ability to transform with color, from carrot stained orange to pea tinted green. Of all the variations on hummus, beet horseradish hummus is my favorite. It is hard not be captivated by this ruby toned riff on hummus. Try walking by a plate of beet horseradish smeared crackers and not eating them. To make this hummus, I paired walnuts and beets, two complementary flavors evoking earthy tones and fresh spring days, horseradish added the right amount of bite to the otherwise creamy scarlet hummus. Beware, once you make beet horseradish hummus, your view of its' beige sister will forever be skewed.
Yield: serves 4-6 as a spread
Ingredients:
- 3 medium sized peeled and cooked beets
- 1/2 cups toasted walnuts
- 2 tablespoons tahini paste
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
Steps:
1. Place all ingredients in a blender/food processor, or other pureeing device. Mix in device until mixture forms a thick paste. Scrape down the sides of your pureeing vessel, taste, adjust salt & lemon if needed. If the hummus is thicker then you would like, feel free to add a drizzle of olive oil to loosen the mixture.
2. Serve immediately or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to one week.
Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread
Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread is the result of a food fight, one which resulted in this delicious hybrid dish somewhere between Baba Ganoush and Hummus. Our food disagreement started with a vague plan for a Mediterranean inspired meal, but quickly morphed into a debate about the true king of dips. On the one hand, the dusky sweet flavors of Baba Ganoush appealed to Paul, whereas I had a strong inclination towards classic hummus, a creamy chickpea puree, perked up with garlic and lemon. In the end, we were pretty pleased with our compromise dish, Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Spread, a transcendent dip with an eggplant and chickpea base, infused with roasted garlic and onions, and the smoky spiciness of charred jalapeno.
Carrot Ribbon Salad with Carrot Top Pesto
Our friends Beth and Justin, both creative cooks and passionate gardeners, made our day when they dropped off some beautiful carrots, freshly dug from their garden. While hardcore carnivores may lay claim to nose-to-tail cooking, we think that this veggie based dish gives the concept a run for its money, as it uses all parts of the carrot plant: root-to-leaf cooking in its colorful prime. Carrot Ribbon Salad with Carrot Top Pesto is adapted from vegetable whiz Diane Morgan’s Roots cookbook. In this dish, the carrots are first mellowed with a quick hot water bath to soften their texture and bite. Carrot top pesto, with its subtle parsley-like flavor, is a lovely match, accented with dollops of creamy goat cheese. Find a source for fresh vibrant carrots with tops and make this beautiful dish.
Roasted Beet Chips
I always associate beets with the Borscht Soup that my Oma used to make in the fall and winter months. At the time, I don't recall being all that enamored with either the soup, or beets. But now I love them both. We have found that beets are not a vegetable that generates a mild response. Whenever we plan to serve them, we like to first test out the waters to see if our guests are beet-friend or -foe. Beets have a strong earthy flavor that needs some assistance. In their unvarnished form, they are a dusty and lumpy root vegetable, with little to commend by their exterior. But peel a beet and you will find a vibrant, sweet and minerally vegetable, happy to lend color and flavor to drab dishes. Beets and their greens are chock full of vitamins, among them A, B1, B2, B6 and C and are high in calcium, iron and magnesium. Beets respond well to many cooking applications and are delicious in everything from hummus to pickles to juice. I first made these roasted beet chips when I was hankering for some root chips (those incredibly overpriced bags of beet and sweet potato chips at the grocery). It occurred to me that I could make them on my own and instead of deep frying, I thought I’d give beet chips in the oven a go. While Paul was skeptical of my oven technique, it worked beautifully and he sneakily polished off the first batch before our guests arrived!
Baked Tofu & Pickled Vegetable Rice Bowl
Baked Tofu and Pickled Vegetable Rice Bowl is a modern version of one of my childhood favorites. Growing up I was a very picky eater with a limited and perplexing range of favorites. On the top of my list was fried tofu with ketchup, a crunchy and comforting dish. I have happy memories of gobbling mounds of golden cubes dunked liberally with organic green tomato ketchup. To my parents great relief, my eating repertoire has evolved a bit since then, but my love for tofu remains.
Paul on the other hand, has a grown-up aversion to tofu. Whenever I cook with tofu, he expresses a strong concern that I am covertly working to turn him into a vegetarian, his own personal horror! Despite himself, Paul scraped his bowl clean and gives this dish two thumbs up.
