Sweet Potato Hummus with Beet Chips

Hummus is magical. It's silky smooth, perfectly savory and healthy as heck. This spreadable dip is especially great paired with some veggies and naan on a warm summer day, which I am missing terribly here in mid-March.

The only downside of hummus is that it's made primarily of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), which don't grow well in most of the U.S. Although the original chickpea version of hummus is utter perfection, this sweet potato rendition adapts the dish to suit U.S. soils a little better and it’s p dang tasty. Pairing this hummus with some simply dehydrated beet chips adds an earthy crisp that takes the whole affair up a few more notches.

Let me know what you think of the recipe in the comments and don’t forget to follow the sustainability tips below!

Ingredients

For the beets

• 3 medium beets

• Olive oil

• Salt

For the Hummus

(Adapted from Bon Appetit)

• 1 large sweet potato (1½ pounds, 680 grams)

• 2 garlic cloves, smashed

• 3 tablespoons pure tahini or tahini butter

• 1½ teaspoons salt

• Juice from 1/2 a lemon

• Up to 1 cup water

• Olive oil

Steps

1. The night before you want to serve this, start dehydrating your beets. Set your dehydrator to 125 F. Wash beets and cut them on a mandolin or very thinly with a sharp knife. Toss beets in a light coating of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Arrange in a single layer on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate for 10 hours, or until crisp.

2. Heat oven to 375 F. Peel and cut the sweet potato and deskin and smashed the garlic cloves. Drizzle sweet potatoes and garlic with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and arrange on a large baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until easy pierced with a fork and just starting to brown. Let the vegetables cool slightly (maybe stir your tahini now if it's new...).

3. Chuck the vegetables into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the mixer, add in the tahini, salt and juice from 1/2 a lemon and blend again to combine. If you want a thinner consistency, add in up to 1 cup of water and blend again to combine. Serve drizzled with a bit of high quality olive oil with beet chips on the side.

Sustainability tips

• Veggies: Make this snack when beets, sweet potatoes, lemon and garlic are all in season (psst, that's early spring!). Also buy from a local, organic farm to cut down on GHGs from travel and nasty pesticides. However, if you don't live in a lemon producing area, you'll probably have to compromise on the local aspect.

• Oil: Buying fair trade and organic olive oil is your best bet. Read all about it in my sustainable oils post!