Minty Beet Dip

Beet Dip

I loooove beets.   I started eating them about 4 years ago when I saw them at the farmers market.   They are so sweet and delicious.  At first I mostly roasted them but now I take raw beets and grate them onto salad, juice them,  and I am soon going to try a recipe where you slice a really thin slice of beet and make raviolis out of it.  You'll hear about it when I give this a try:)   Beets, especially in their raw state, have many health benefits as they provide anti- inflammatory and antioxidant support and are an excellent source of folate.   The red pigment in beets are also thought to protect against the development of cancerous cells.  I found this recipe from the site www. lovelymorning.com and she got if from a cookbook called Moro East.   It is delicious and every time I make it, friend ask for the recipe.

This picture was taken from a recent cooking class I taught as a fundraiser for the Trailhead Children's Museum  new Garden to Grocery Exhibit.  I also made two different types of crackers that are pictured above that I will write about soon.   These were appetizers I had for the attendees but we didn't make these recipes.    Everyone requested it though,  so here it is.

Ingredients

4-5 raw beets

1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped

6 T extra virgin olive oil

2 T tahini (ground sesame seeds)

3-4 T chopped fresh mint (depending on how minty you like your dip)

2 t red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 medium lemon

sea salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400 Degrees.   Rinse beets and cut off tails and leafy greens.   Wrap each beet tightly in foil.   Place on the oven racks and cook for about 50-60 minutes, until soft.    Take out and unwrap foil and cool down until you can handle them.  The skin will peel away as you rub the beet.   (You can put some olive oil on your hand before you handle the cooked beets and the red stains seem to rinse away easier).

Coarsely chop them and transfer them to the food processor. Add garlic, olive oil, and tahini and process until you have a nice semi-smooth puree. Then add the mint, lemon, vinegar, salt and pepper and pulse several times.  I think the mint is best added last, just as when I am making pesto  I add the parmesan last so it doesn't get too mixed in with the other flavors.  You want the mint to pop a little bit.   If you are feeling up to it, you can hand chop the mint with a mezzaluna and add it that way too.

Taste and add more salt or lemon as you prefer.

Let me know what you think!