For the love of color
I loved Beets as a kid but not for edible reasons. We were in our tweens, the difficult age where we just wanted to be grownups. We grew up reading Grimms’s fairytales and fascinated with the beauty of Snow white and Cinderella. Holidays meant trying out sarees transformed into flowing gowns and wearing every heel we found dreaming it just might be the glass slipper. Oh yes we lived in the land of make believe where chocolates were growing on trees and homes made of candy. However there was just one thing we could not lay our hands on. MAKEUP.
Whenever we tried to sneak in a lipstick or a blush we were lined up like in a military camp and made to do numerous chores. Though dejected we never gave up. And one fine day we got the solution. Our house help was chopping beetroot and her fingers were stained in a bright purple hue. EUREKA! We started asking for beets with our perplexed family looking on in wonder. We stashed them in a box just like the originals and deftly applied them when we got together to play.
We all looked purple but it was fun.
Beyond the childhood reminiscence, now as a grown up and conscious of healthy eating , I have found that beets can be pickled, steamed, boiled, pureed, juiced, roasted or eaten as is.
Ingredients
1 medium sized boiled Beetroot chopped roughly
2 Garlic cloves
1/2 cup Boiled Chickpeas
1 tbsp Tahini/ Sesame paste
Juice of half a lemon
Rock Salt as per taste
Olive oil
Put the chickpeas, beetroot, garlic, lemon, salt and tahini in a food processor and blend. Remove into a glass jar and then slowly drizzle in your olive oil. Mix it well. Use a generous amount of olive oil. Season to taste and serve immediately or keep in the fridge.
Shelf Life: Max one week in the Refrigerator.
Tip- To cook the beetroot, cut off any tops, scrub the roots clean, cover with water in a saucepan and simmer until tender, about 1/2 hour or in a pressure cooker for 1 whistle. Peel once they have cooled.
Fatima is an amateur writer and chef based in Dubai. She feels the best of her is yet to come. Her passions include writing and travelling. When she is not busy with strategic plans and events you can find her whipping up a meal and listening to music. Someday she plans to write lyrics for upcoming artists. To read her stories, please visit www.princesszeidi.com