Lilly Higgins: super green hummus

With St Patrick's Day falling this Friday, I feel it's time to get a little patriotic in the kitchen. This dish uses some great root vegetables that grow so well here in Ireland. Carrots and parsnips pair naturally with one another and are sweet and delicious when roasted. I was delighted to discover that my kids love roast vegetables, especially sweet nutty parsnip.

The super green hummus gets its luminous green colour from a healthy handful of spinach leaves and some zingy coriander. The lemon juice adds a great citrus burst and helps keep the colour glowing. Hazelnuts and parsnip are a great combination and the nuts add some fantastic crunch here. I sometimes use dukkah, the middle eastern spice, sesame seed and nut mix, for even more flavour and texture.

Some early asparagus is perfect for dipping, but al dente broccoli spears are delicious too. A raw crudite version of this tricolour platter is perfectly doable. Crunchy cucumber batons, raw cauliflower florets and raw carrot sticks make a lovely pre-dinner snack.

This dish is lovely as a main course, with crackers for dipping and scooping. It is amazing with roast lamb or roast chicken too, so perfect for a fuss-free Sunday lunch if you’re still celebrating our national holiday.

My mother used to always cook food that resembled the Irish flag on St Patrick’s Day. It was usually cabbage, mashed potato and thick rounds of boiled carrots with parsley sauce and salty bacon. I will probably cook the same over the weekend as it is something I never make but have such strong happy associations with.

The night before the parade my mother would spend hours ironing green dresses, skirts, blouses and of course the obligatory tri-coloured ribbons for myself and my six sisters. For maximum impact, we each wore about six ribbons, so there was a huge basket of ribbons that needed ironing, and rosettes that needed pinning.

Any slightly tatty ribbons were tied to our incredibly patient Irish terrier’s collar and we then dragged her in to town as our own contribution towards the parade.

Super green hummus and roast root vegetables

Serves 6

1kg root vegetables, carrots and parsnips

250g asparagus or broccoli spears

100g baby spinach leaves

20g coriander

1 small clove garlic

Juice of half a lemon

240g cooked chickpeas

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and black pepper

150g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Method:

Preheat an oven to 200 degrees Celsius/gas 5. Peel the carrots and parsnips and cut them into long batons of equal size. Drizzle them with a little oil and arrange on a tray. Due to the shape of the carrots and parsnips, I usually place the thinner ends towards the centre of the tray. It sounds a little fussy, but is worth it because the thinner ends can burn quickly. Place the chunkier end nearer to the edge of the tray. Roast for 20-30 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden and coloured in places. Keep them warm and set aside.

Roughly chop the coriander. Place it in the bowl of a food processor along with the spinach, garlic and lemon juice. Blitz till combined and uniformly green. Add the chickpeas, tahini and olive oil, blitz again till creamy and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Gently bend each asparagus spear till it snaps. The woody tough end of the stem will naturally snap exactly where it needs to. Simmer the asparagus in the water for four minutes, till just cooked. Remove from the water and place on a platter with the roast vegetables. Serve with the hummus and a scattering of toasted hazelnuts.