I developed a deep-seated love for Bobby Chinn’s show: World Cafe Middle East. Love the guy. He’s such a charmer, talks with so much ease, has a wicked sense of humor and knows his food.

In one of the last episodes they aired here in Holland he was visiting Israel and found himself sitting in a restaurant, at a table that was filled with copious amounts of fabulous looking food. Colorful and flavorful. I could almost taste each dish as they described what it was, where it originated from, and how it was cooked.

One of the dishes he raved about was a beet puree with tahini and yoghurt. Unfortunately that—and the heavenly look on his face as he took a bite—was all the info we got. No recipe, nothing.

I did find a few recipes online but none of them claimed authenticity leaving me with no idea how to make this properly. No problem. I just got into the kitchen and created a version myself.

I was really surprised how good something so simple could taste. Not in a million years would I have come up with the idea of a beet dip myself.

You eat this like you would eat Hummus or Baba Ghanoush. It has a real earthy, sweet and rich flavor that worked wonders for the falafel we stuffed our pita’s with.

Ingredients:

1 pound beets
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons tahini
3 to 4 tbsp Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp lemon juice (optionally some zest)
1 teaspoon cumin
2/3 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

 
Directions:

Feel free to ridicule me, but I took a shortcut. Bought one pound precooked beets.

 
Want to make this from scratch? Just boil the (peeled) beets in salted water for about 30 minutes, until tender. Or you can roast them in a pan (unpeeled and tossed with some oil) at 400F (200C) for 50 to 60 minutes.
 

Add them to the food processor along with the oil, ground cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.

 
If you don’t have a food processor you could also finely grate them into a bowl and then add the rest of the ingredients.
 

Grate the garlic in there.

For a little extra sweetness I’ve added a tsp honey.

Squeeze in the lemon juice. Next time I’ll add some of the zest as well.

In with the tahini.

And blitz until you have a puree. Taste to check the seasonings.

Add 3 to 4 heaping tbsp Greek yoghurt and pulse a few times or stir them in. This will turn the beets shocking pink.

 
Garnish with a little extra yoghurt and some parsley or mint on top.
 

Serve with pita chips, a falafel stuffed pita. heck, I think you might even be able to turn this into a healthy dressing!