feel food club

vegan recipes

Better than Store-bought 15-minute beetroot hummus

by Kommentar verfassen

Hummus. We all know it – we all love it! That creamy, tangy goodness that we spread onto bread, enjoy in pita, top every bowl with and dip our veggies in to make them more delicious! A staple in most households – and still, most people buy it at the store while it is SO easy to make!

What is hummus?

Hummus is a dip or a spread that originated and nowadays is found in Middle Eastern cuisine. It has a very smooth consistency and is made out out chickpeas, tahini (which is a sesame paste), olive oil, garlic, and spices. It typically is enjoyed with some fresh Pita bread. Hummus is very popular among the vegan nutrition because it works great as a spread on bread or as a dairy free dip and is pretty healthy!

What is special about this dish?

Regular hummus, as I said is made out of chickpeas as its main ingredient. But this one is a little bit different and perfect for fall! Besides Chickpeas, the star of the show is beetroot. Beetroot is a quite popular ingredient to be added to hummus because its slightly sweet flavour just works in perfect harmony with the creaminess and tanginess of the hummus. So instead of plain hummus, we are switching things up a little bit and making a delicious beetroot hummus!

How do you make hummus?

The entire process is pretty simple, and will take you a maximum of 10 minutes. To make it, you definitely need canned chickpeas. It is possible to use dried ones, but you will have to cook those for 1,5-2 hours before being able to make the hummus, which is pretty time consuming! So I prefer to go for canned ones. You add those to a blender or a food processor (either works) along with a few other ingredients and blend it until it’s creamy. It really is this simple and does not ask for any other cooking!

The secrets to making a really good hummus

There are a few things you can look out for when making hummus to take it next level. First, use canned chickpeas or ones that are boiled really softly. Second, use a good Tahini. This is a sesame paste you can find at most supermarkets and has a runny consistency but I would recommend buying it at an asian store. The Tahini there is just more liquid and will make the hummus creamier! If you cannot make it to an asian store, I recommend at least checking the ingredients list. A good Tahini has Sesame seeds as its only ingredient.

My third tip is to preserve some aquafaba (this is the liquid the chickpeas come in when canned). Adding this will keep the hummus really creamy. My fourth, and last tip is to use a splash of vinegar. As weird as it may sound, it really makes a difference! It adds this tanginess that makes a hummus really good. Sometimes lemons are used, but I would really recommend doing some vinegar!

Is beetroot hummus healthy?

It definitely is! Chickpeas are very healthy since they are high in protein and high in fibre. The Tahini and Olive oil add some healthy unsaturated fats, which makes a great nutritional value for a dip! The beetroot adds some natural sweetness and vitamins! Another reason why it is loved by the food industry is because it is healthy!

How to best have it

Really with anything, you would have regular hummus with. On top of some toasted bread with some avocado, or to dip some veggies in. Also works great on top of (buddha) bowls, in pita bread or on top of a rice cracker. You can even just thin it out with water and lemon juice to make a salad dressing! So the options are endless… and all delicious!

I hope that you will love this recipe and I am sure you’ll be making this on repeat in your kitchen! A great & healthy fall food!

I hope that you will love this recipe and I am sure you’ll be making this on repeat in your kitchen! A great & healthy fall food!

Print

Better than Store-bought 15-minute beetroot hummus

The best creamy & delicious beetroot hummus ever. Better than any premade takeout version!

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine arabian, middle eastern
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 10 Minuten
Servings 5 servings
Calories 144 kcal

What you will need

  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 2 small beetroots (precooked)
  • 1 tbsp Tahini
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 2 tsp vinegar (white wine vinegar works best)
  • 3-4 tbsp aquafaba (the liquid canned chickpeas come in)
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp paprika powder

How to

  1. Drain the chickpeas but preserve the liquid they were in. Add them to a blender along with all the other ingredients and 3-4 tbsp of that preserved liquid. Blend until smooth! If it is too firm, add more olive oil or aquafaba. But be aware that beetroot hummus will not be as creamy as normal hummus because of the beets in it! Enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

by Kommentar verfassen

This salad is like spring in a bowl. So mush freshness, fruitiness but also savoury goodness. Super easy to make, full of vitamins, perfect side dish or light main course. Absolutely in love!

Spring honestly is my favourite season. Everything is starting to bloom and coming back to life. Flowers are so colourful and the markets are full of fresh fruits and vegetables. Including two of my favourites: Asparagus and strawberries.

How we typically eat Asparagus

Asparagus is something very typical in Austria. We usually have it with Risotto, as a side or very very typical with potatoes, ham and molten butter or sauce hollandaise. But while this is good once in a while I feel like it is really heavy and not healthy in the long term. This salad, on the other hand is something very light and refreshing.

Which Asparagus works best?

Definitely a mix! Use some white stalks and some greens because the combination of the slightly different flavours is just super good! If you want, you can also use purple asparagus although I would not necessarily recommend to buy it extra for this. I have tried it out with purple asparagus but it lost its colour while cooking and turned green. So it was a bit of a pity.

How to cook asparagus?

This actually is not as easy as many people think. I mean it is to hard but you just need to know how. Green Asparagus is super easy. You just need to cut off the ends of the stalks and boil it in salted water for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. White asparagus is slightly different. It also needs some boiling water, you need to salt it, and add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of sugar. This takes out the bitterness of the asparagus and makes it really good!

Do you need to peel asparagus?

Depends. Green asparagus does not need to be peeled. Neither does purple one. White one on the other hand needs to be peeled!! Generously! I would recommend to peel it twice. If it is not peeled well it will have strings when eating and that’s not good tbh.

Fruit in salad?

A big YES!!! This is game changing! Especially the combination of strawberries and asparagus is insane! The sweetness of the strawberry pairs perfectly well with the freshness of the asparagus. If you do not have strawberries on hand or do not like them, you can add in raspberries instead, which also must taste really good!

Other add-ins:

Here you can be really creative! What would 100% work well is some kind of cheese like mozzarella, burrata cheese, cottage cheese or feta. Those would make it really good! Also, grilled chicken breast or prawns would take this next level but also hard boiled eggs.

When & how to eat it?

You can have this as a nice side dish and leave it as is or make a little more and add in something like hard boiled eggs for example and enjoy it with some freshly toasted bread or couscous to have it as a filling salad!

I hope that you like this recipe as much as I do and that you will make it many times this spring!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Print

Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

Not your average asparagus side dish but much better! Sweetness of the strawberries paired with the taste of fresh asparagus is just heaavenly!

Course Appetizer, lunch, Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 149 kcal

What you will need

  • 500 g white asparagus
  • 500 g asparagus
  • 500 g strawberries
  • 2 spring onions
  • 1 handful mint
  • 1 handful basil
  • 1 handful parsley
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp maple or honey
  • 1 tbsp butter or magarine
  • 1 tsp sugar

How to

  1. Bring a large pot with water to a boil. Peel the white asparagus generously (about 2x). Cut the ends (about 3cm) of both, white and green asparagus and throw them away. Cut the asparagus into about 3-4cm sized pieces.

    Add the butter (or magarine) and sugar into the boiling water and salt it. Add in the white asparagus and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add in the green asparagus and cook for another 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. You can test if they are ready by pieking through them with a fork. If they almost fall off the fork, they are done. Then drain them.

  2. In the meantime remove the green part from the strawberries and half them or cut them into quarters, depending on how big they are. Slice the spring onions and seperate the onion rings from each other.

  3. Roughly chop up the basil, mint and parsley.

  4. Add the asparagus, strawberries, spring onions and herbs into a bowl. In a seperate small bowl combine the olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon and the maple syrup. Toss the salad in the dressing and serve!

    Enjoy!

Notes

If you want to have it as a main dish just make more (about half more, so 6 servings for 4 people). You can then also add in other things like hard boiled eggs, feta or mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken breast or prawns!