A pixie and her hummus.

This is Eva:

Child labor to clean lemons!

She's one of my little nieces. Eva, her mom and dad (my sister and brother in law) arrived from Oregon for a visit on Saturday. She just got a haircut yesterday, she wanted to have a pixie cut to skip that pesky hair brushing step in the morning.  Eva was super excited to be cooking with Auntie yesterday, we started with a dig-that-earth-day-hummus.

So Eva has a reputation of being a super-de-duper picky eater in the past. Most of the time, if it wasn't something plain jane, she wouldn't even take a taste of it. So I was really surprised when she pulled a little cookbook out of hers and picked out a hummus recipe. That had a secret ingredient:

Beets? Yup, beets!

I don't know who this kid is with her pixie cut and being excited for beets, but I'll take it! So we roasted the beets and then dropped everything in the food processor.

Since these were orange beets, the hummus didn't take on a very exciting color, it looked a bit more yellow, but still pretty much in line with what you would expect for hummus. I am sure with red beets the color is amazing.

And? Eva loved it. Carrots, pita chips and cucumber on the side made her a happy camper. She ate more of the sides than she did the hummus, but the rest of us loved it. It is really light in taste, the beets are great in it, and I may have to keep some on hand for quick and easy lunches on the regular.

I will have more Cooking with Eva this week, she's been super excited to help out in the kitchen, and you can't beat the child labor.

Dig-That-Earth-Day Hummus

Taken from the Green Princess Cookbook

2 cups canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2-3 medium sized beets, roasted, skinned and coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

Olive oil and parsley for garnish

Combine chickpeas and beets in a food processor with the garlic, lemon juice and water, process for about a minute, adding more water if needed to get a smooth consistency. Add the tahini, cumin, paprika and salt and blend until combined.

Serve with your choice of veggies, flat bread or pita chips.

Did I mention she even ate a baby zucchini?