Pink Dip / Beetroot Dip

To avoid any potential complaints about eating beets/beetroot, I name this dish Pink Dip or Pink Hummus... and the kids are ready to eat it without further questioning. Along with a Carrot Dip, I have made this dip to serve at Children's parties... simply because the color is SO intense and beautiful. It has a wonderful sweet yet earthy flavor and is simply delicious. My favorite accompaniment would be Turkish Bread - a kind of Ciabatta we were able to purchase easily in Australia - but I have yet to find a substitute here. Unfortunately, we only had corn chips available when I made this the other night. 

I have thinned the dip with a little extra yoghurt / lemon juice to make a sauce to serve with, what I thought were Lebanese fish balls (via an ancient recipe from Robert Carrier). I believe these were called Blehat Samak. I found a similar recipe at Mietta O'Donnell's site.

Anyway, I roasted several beetroot at once. I used one and a half to 'pickle' and serve on classic Aussie-style burgers, and reserved the remaining beets for when we had a pre-dinner snack emergency. 

PINK DIP
Ingredients: 
2 medium fresh beets

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tblsp tahini

1 tblsp lemon juice

1/4 cup Greek Yoghurt (or as desired)

Method: 

Wash beets well and cut stems (leaving a couple of inches intact - to prevent all color escaping!)

Wrap beets in oiled foil and bake in oven for 1½ hours at 350℉ (or until skewer can be inserted easily into beets). 

Wash cooked beets under running cold water to remove skins and stem. Drain. Allow to cool. 

Blend beets with garlic, Tahini and Lemon Juice. Stir through Yoghurt if thinner / creamier consistency is required. Add salt to taste. 

Note: 

Use rubber gloves when skinning beets to avoid turning a vivid shade of red!
Sour Cream may be substituted for the Yoghurt... but we have become extremely fond of our homemade Greek Yoghurt.