🥘 Ingredients
- medium or small or large red beets 1 ½
- extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp
- walnuts ¾ cup
- garlic cloves 4
- silken tofu 8 oz
- freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 tbsp
- ground coriander ¼ tsp
- ground cumin ¼ tsp
- za'atar 1 ½ tsp
- kosher salt 1 tsp
- Aleppo pepper ½ tsp
- fresh mint leaves 0.8 handful
📝
The beets can be roasted a few days in advance and stored in the fridge in an airtight container. The lemon juice brings balance to the flavor of walnuts and beets, but if you don’t love lemon, you may want to start with less lemon juice, about 1 1/2 tbsp, then taste and add more as desired. Storage: Pack the leftover Beet Dip into an airtight container and store it in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. Before serving, allow it to come to room temperature. Nutrition boost: Scoop up with pita, pita chips, crackers, toasted bread slices, and/or fresh-cut veggies. Nutrition boost: Feeling gourmet? Smear this beet dip onto a shallow plate and use it as a base for roasted vegetables and proteins (cauliflower + chickpeas, cabbage + lentils).
-
1Gather: medium or small or large red beets , extra virgin olive oil , walnuts , garlic cloves , silken tofu , freshly squeezed lemon juice , ground coriander , ground cumin , za'atar , kosher salt , Aleppo pepper , fresh mint leaves .
-
2To roast fresh beets (see Note 1): Preheat the oven to 450ºF / 230ºC. Slice off the stalks but keep any skinny tails intact. Tightly wrap the beets in individual foil packets. Place on a sheet pan or baking pan and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a paring knife inserted in the center of each slides in easily. Remove from the oven and unwrap. Once cool enough to handle, peel the beets (wear food-safe gloves if you want to avoid staining your hands). Tear the beets into chunks or roughly chop. You should have 1 1/4-1 1/2 cup of chopped beets.
-
3Toast the walnuts and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Add the chopped walnuts and 2 pinch of kosher salt. Stir frequently for 4-5 minutes (stirring very frequently once the walnuts start to change color), or until the walnuts are golden brown. Add the chopped garlic and stir very frequently for 60 to 90 seconds, or until the walnuts are deeply golden brown and the garlic is golden. If the walnuts or garlic start to brown very quickly, reduce the heat.
-
4To prevent overcooking, transfer the walnut-garlic mixture (including all the oil in the pan) to a bowl to slightly cool, then add to a food processor (or small-capacity blender). Blend the walnut-garlic mixture (including all reserved oil) until finely ground into a paste-like consistency.
-
5Add the silken tofu and lemon juice, and blend until the tofu is pureed and creamy, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides to incorporate the walnut mixture into the creamy tofu mixture.
-
6Add 1 1/4-1 1/2 cup cooked beets, coriander, cumin, za’atar, salt, and Aleppo pepper, if using. Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as you go. Taste, adding more salt, za’atar, or Aleppo pepper as desired.
-
7Spoon the dip into a serving bowl. Before serving, drizzle with a bit of good-quality olive oil and garnish with the mint.