Beetroot and butterbean hummus

My love of beetroot is well documented on this blog. I simply can't eat enough of it. For many people, this fabulous root has been ruined forever for them by being exposed to the pickled variety, which completely kills off the earthy sweetness. You can roast it in the oven, wrapped tightly in foil and with nothing else added, for about an hour at 200C - afterwards, let them rest in the foil for 10-15 minutes then slip the skins off. Or you can cheat, as I so often do, and buy a vacuum pack of plain cooked beetroot from the supermarket for less than a quid.

Beetroot is also incredibly versatile - borscht is famous of course but it also works well in ice cream, for example, because of its sweetness and I recently stumbled across this recipe for beetroot rugelach, which I plan to make very soon.

Hummus takes less than 10 minutes to make in a food processor. This will keep in the fridge for up to a week in a sealed container.

What you need:
2 medium to large beetroots
A 400g can of butterbeans
1 tbsp olive oil
1 dsp tahini
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Sea salt and black pepper

What to do: 
Chop the beetroot into chunks, drain and rinse the butterbeans and put into a food processor along with everything else except the seasoning. Blitz into a thick purée, adding a dribble of water if you need to thin it a little. Season to taste, adding a little more lemon juice as well if it's on the sweet side.

Sprinkle a little dukkah over the top to finish.

Cook's tips: 
As with traditional hummus, quantities of ingredients are only a rough guide - it's down to personal preference so taste, taste, taste as you go. Beetroot can be very sweet, so I like to add a very generous pinch of sea salt. I also juice a whole lemon, so I have a little extra if the hummus needs more acidity.

Dukka is traditionally made with hazelnuts but you can use other nuts. This one in the photo is made with pistachios - I picked it up at a farmers' market but the recipe in the link is very easy and you can play with the ingredients.

Red lentil and sweet potato soup

I really need colourful food at this time of the year - it cheers me up no end when outside it is grey, cold and spring seems a long way off. A trip to the market brought beetroots (which went into my beetroot risotto), a bundle of bright green chard that I steamed with prawns in coconut milk and spices, and sweet potatoes.

This soup is very filling and warming, a welcome splash of orange in the bowl. Makes two portions.

What you need: 
1 finely chopped large shallot
125g red lentils
1 large sweet potato
2/3 litre vegetable stock
1/2 tsp English mustard powder
1/4 tsp sumac (optional)
Salt, pepper
Harissa (optional)
A little chopped fresh parsley

What to do:
Peel the sweet potato and cut into 2cm cubes. Rinse the lentils under the cold tap in a sieve, to remove any dust. In a large pan, sauté the shallot in a splash of vegetable oil until soft and translucent. Add the lentils to the pan, stir through then pour in the stock and add the sweet potato. Add the spices - the mustard powder and sumac, if using, then a generous pinch of sea salt and a good grinding of black pepper.

Bring the pan to the boil then turn it down to a gentle simmer and let it cook for half an hour. Red lentils can absorb a lot of water so keep an eye on the liquid level and top up with boiling water from the kettle if necessary.

When the lentils are swollen and soft and the sweet potato is completely tender, take the pan off the heat and use a stick blender to blend it. Add more salt to taste and put the pan back on the hob until it starts to bubble again. Dish up and top with the parsley.

Cook's tips: 
Even allowing for the salt in the stock and the early seasoning, I find lentils need a lot of salt to stop the soup tasting bland. Check as you go and add more if you need to. While I normally shy away from adding salt if I can get away with it, this is one dish that really needs it.

You can freeze the second portion - I like to jazz it up with a generous teaspoonful of rose harissa to add a little zing to it as it reheats.

Instant banana ice cream

This cheat's ice cream is the best way I know to use up overripe bananas. It's not quite instant but it involves very little work, has only one ingredient and tastes amazing.

Ice cream is one of those things I always have in the freezer as I don't make puddings unless I have guests or some fruit to use up. It has to be premium ice cream for me and a small bowlful is plenty to satisfy any cravings I have for fat and sugar. Bananas have both without the need to add any extras and the simplicity of this does away with hours of making a custard base, churning and rechurning.You don't need an ice cream machine either, just a food processor.

I've been making this for so long that I have no idea where I originally discovered this. A friend who knows about such things explained the science to me - namely, that when bananas are frozen the fat they contain undergoes some kind of transformation and blitzing it produces the same creamy texture you get in proper ice cream. Whatever - it works!

What you need: 
4-6 very ripe bananas

What to do:
Peel the bananas and slice into 1cm rounds, discarding any blackened or badly bruised flesh. Spread the slices on a baking sheet and pop in the freezer for about an hour - they should be three-quarters frozen, not solid.

Put the three-quarters frozen banana slices into a food processor and blitz them until smooth. Put into a suitable container and refreeze. This makes about a pint / 1/2 litre depending on the size of the bananas.

Cook's tips: 
It's really important that you don't over-freeze the banana - blitzing it fully frozen could burn out the motor  in your food processor. If the slices have frozen solid, leave them to soften a bit before processing.

This freezes rock hard once blitzed and refrozen so take it out of the freezer for 10-15 minutes to soften slightly before scooping a portion.

Extras -  you can, of course, add extra ingredients once you've pulped the banana flesh. Things I've tried that work well include chocolate chips, dessicated coconut, chopped nuts (pistachios, brazils and walnuts are especially good), candied peel. and chopped glacé cherries. For an even creamier texture you could stir through some double cream or Greek yoghurt after processing. Beware of using crème fraiche as it can split when it thaws.

As far as I know this will keep indefinitely, although it's never lasted long enough for me to find out!