I’m delighted to be taking part in the “Think you know beetroot” challenge.   Lovebeetroot.co.uk sent me a lovely box of 3 types of beetroot to try.

Well I do love beetroot so I was looking forward to trying their varieties which included Sweetfire Chill which are baby beets marinated in a sweet chilli marinade, beets dipped in malt vinegar and plain cooked beetroot.

The first beetroot I tried was the Sweetfire chilli which I used to make the Beetroot and Butterbean hummus recipe on Lovebeetroot.co.uk – they have some great recipes for using beetroot.  Their recipe used beets dipped in vinegar but I thought the chilli would add some zing to the houmous (how do you spell that?!) and it did, I loved it! It was my lunch for 4 days running, I do love a lunch that is quick and easy to take to work.   The houmous keeps well in a Tupperware dish in the fridge.  I took some in a smaller Tupperware to work each day and there I spread it into a toasted wholemeal pitta bread and stuffed salad into it, delicious and healthy!

Beetroot and Butter Bean Houmous

• 250g cooked beetroot (Sweetfire chilli if you can get it)
• 1 can (400 g) butter beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 cloves garlic, crushed
• Small bunch fresh chives,  chopped (save some to garnish)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus a little more to drizzle at end
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Chop the beetroot into small chunks.
2. In a food processor pulse the butter beans with the garlic, chives and olive oil.
3. Add the sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste.
4. Transfer into a bowl with the beetroot and gently mix.
5. Add a drizzle of olive oil and garnish with the reserved chives.

Serve with warm pitta bread to dip or as I did stuff into a pitta with some salad.

A healthy beetroot fact – Just 3 baby beetroots equals one portion of you 5 a day quota! (just 3!)