Mmm... Folic Acid... (Part One)

Tricked you into clicking on to a post that is a paean to the humble beet!  You just got Beet-Rolled!  Ahahaha!

Well, since you're here, why don't you stay and read on?  We will try to make it worth your time; we promise.

We have been picking up bunches of rainbow chard (AKA five-colored silverbeet) at the farmer's market every Saturday for quite some time now as well as a bunch or two of beets.  You might not know it, but you can eat the beet greens (and the finely chopped stems if you braise them) instead of just throwing them into your composter or worm bin.  However, we've been eating so many greens that the beet roots were piling up.  [We'll save what we do with the greens for another day.]

But with chard at $1.50 a bunch and regular beets at $2.00, it's almost as though you get all of the sweet, earthy beet roots for $0.50.  Even if you don't like beets (or think that you don't), how could you pass up Such A Deal?  We've cooked Beets with Horseradish Cream, roasted beets with olive oil and thyme, Beet and Goat Cheese Salad, and many more, but we were getting bored with our beet root recipes.  There just have to be even more ways to cook them that won't remind you of vaguely metallic tasting, tinned, pickled beets, that you were forced to eat as a child, right?  Oh, yes.  Yes, there are.

But first, we've been making a lot of hummus these days.  Our "go to" recipe is from one of our cooking "bibles", the New Best Recipe book.  The ratios are so simple as to be easily memorizable.  Is "memorizable" a word?  Easily committed to memory?  Good enough.  It seems as though we've posted about hummus before, but we can't find the link so here it is again.  Let the memorizing begin!

Hummus -

adapted from The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition

• 1-15 ounce can of chickpeas or equal amount of fresh cooked/defrosted chickpeas
• 1 medium clove of garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons juice from 1 large lemon
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup water

Put everything in a food processor (or blender) and process until smooth. Chill at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator and serve with warm pita, on bread or crackers, with tortilla chips, as a spread on a sandwich, or any other way that seems enjoyable to you. 

 It takes seven minutes to make a large tub of hummus including cleaning the food processor.  Seven.

Wait, isn't this post about beets?  Yes, yes it is.  Just trying to get you curiouser and curiouser/lure you in.  We have also taken to adding a Moroccan/northern African spice mix called Ras el Hanout to the hummus recipe above.  We made up a batch and can't remember all of the ingredients, but it's one of those mixes like curry powder, "cajun seasoning", garam masala, et cetera that vary from place to place and house to house.  The "usual suspects" are all there but ratios and secret ingredients are up to the eater.  Have fun with it!  The Ras el Hanout really takes the hummus toward the "40 spices" store-bought version that Jim used to love so much, before we realized that it's 25% the cost and takes seven minutes to make.

The beets!!  What about the beets for goodness sake? Oh, right. 

Beet Hummus (Seriously) -

• Wrap four big beets in tin foil and roast in a ~350 oven for ~45 minutes or until they are can be easily pierced with a paring knife.  
• Let cool and peel the skins (they should really just slip off).  
• Substitute the roasted, peeled beets for the chick peas in the recipe above.

That's it.  Sorry for the big build up.  Jim added some extra cumin and is eating it all before Peta gets any.  It's so tasty and good for you and easy and cheap.  And those are a few of our favorites things..

But you said two recipes!  Gluttons for punishment, eh?  Sorry, you'll have to go to Part II (NOTE: in progress) for that recipe since this post is quite long enough (and information-packed and entertaining).  Let's just say that we we're inspired by an episode of River Cottage and the food has five consonants in a row.  (If you haven't checked out River Cottage, it could change your life.  Seriously.)

Jim and Peta

PS: Beets really are high in folic acid though.  True story.  Also," Beetroot is a rich source of potent antioxidants and nutrients, including magnesium, sodium, potassium and vitamin C, and betaine, which is important forcardiovascular health. It functions by acting with other nutrients to reduce the concentration of homocysteine, a homologue of the naturally occurring amino acid cysteine, which can be harmful to blood vessels and thus contribute to the development of heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Betaine functions in conjunction with S-adenosylmethionine, folic acid, and vitamins B₆ and B₁₂ to carry out this function." (from Wiki)

Disclaimer: If you haven't been a beet-eater and decide to make any beet recipes included herein, please remember that you had beets when you visit your "facilities" rather than freaking out and going to the ER and then blaming us for the bill.  Thanks!