In these uncertain times when many people are trying to deal with some form of lockdown it is more important than ever to make the most of all the food we buy and not waste any.

We are thankful that we are still able to buy from many of the farmers that we’ve built relationships with over the years. With hand washing and social distancing protocols in place at the farmers market and everyone wearing face masks it can be a surreal shopping experience, and we miss being able to chat with the vendors, browse the stalls and bump into friends but we love that we have the opportunity to still support local farmers and producers in these difficult times. 

A lot of wet weather earlier in the year has delayed a lot of spring planting so the market offerings are still dominated by greens and root veg. Amongst other things we’ve been getting beautiful bunches of both golden and red beets with their greens still attached. The roots store longer than the greens so we invariably use the greens first. So it was that I ended up with a couple of bunches of beets with a couple of inches of stalk still attached. As I usually roast the beets I thought I could do something different with the stubby stalks and wondered if they would form the base of an interesting hummus.

Like much of my cooking at the moment I used whatever I had in the house. This is a recipe where you can play about with the ingredients you have on hand and invariably come up with something delicious. I added a couple of small roasted beets to add some colour but they could be left out. I used cumin and coriander but you can experiment with different spices, or maybe add some chillies to make it hotter. Other spices that work well with beets include caraway seeds, chives, dill, fennel and tarragon. I added pistachios for texture and flavour but walnuts, hazels or pecans would be a good substitute. The tahini could be omitted if you don’t have any. Just have fun.  

BEET STALK HUMMUS

7oz beet stalks

2oz cooked beets

0.5 Tsp Ground Cumin

0.5 Tsp Ground Coriander

2oz Pistachios

1 clove garlic

1 Tbsp tahini

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cook the beet stalks in salted boiling water until tender. Put in a food processor with the cooked beets, cumin and coriander, pistachios, garlic, tahini and olive oil. 

Blend until well mixed but still relatively coarse in texture. Try and avoid ending up with a smooth puree. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. If necessary you can add more olive oil to loosen the mixture a little.