Recipe: $2.25
Per Serving: $0.56
There's more than one way to skin a cat disguise an eggplant. Today's option: hummus. Well, really, it's an actual dish with it's own name. Baba Ghanouuj. Ganoush. Ghanoush. So many spelling options. It's like a Webster's free-for-all. Anyway, eggplant. Hummus-style.
See? Doesn't it look like hummus? Hummus is one of the best dippy-spreads around, and you can basically make the same thing with eggplant instead of chickpeas and it is called Baba Ghanoush. No, it's not exactly the same, but it does do a good job of disguising slimy eggplant as something highly palatable. HIGHLY! Plus, then you can eat a massive amount of vegetables instead of a massive amount of beans. Which, for the record, also makes this PALEO.
I did NOT have high hopes for this. I figured if I ended up hating it, I would just dump a cup of chickpeas in the blender and actually just make an eggplant-chickpea hummus combo. Baba Ghanouuj is much smoother and silkier (really, silky is the best word to describe it) than traditional homemade chickpea hummus, but it's not gross, I promise! I have had it at restaurants a few times before I realized a) it was made from eggplants, or b) how much I loathed eggplants.
With one last eggplant left from our summer CSA (it's the LAST eggplant, right San Diego?), I was at a loss. I wasn't in the mood, nor did I have the time to make eggplant rollatini, and we'd already made two batches of Beef and Eggplant Meatballs. I was seconds away from just making baked eggplant parmesan and calling it a day (seriously, I bought the mozzarella and everything), when I remembered about Baba Ghanoush. It might have been because I was reading a novel based in the Middle East, or because it just seemed a lot easier than every other option. We also got those carrots and peas in our CSA box, and I made the pita chips with Trader Joe's whole wheat pitas!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I still don't like eggplant. BUT, that doesn't mean we can't make it taste good! If I can come up with not just two, but THREE eggplant dishes we like, then it's just a regular old CSA Success Story up in here. Okay, goodbye summer!
Easy Baba Ghanoush (Baba Ghanouuj)
Ingredients
- 1 medium-large eggplant
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or lime juice
- 1 ½ tablespoon tahini
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- dash paprika
- dash cayenne
- salt to taste
- cilantro if desired
Instructions
- Split the eggplant in half. Cut crosshatches in the inside of the eggplant and sprinkle with salt. Let rest for 10 minutes, then blot the excess water, and bake on 350º for 35 minutes, or until the eggplant is really really soft, and maybe slightly caramelized on top.
- *During the last 20 minutes of baking, place the garlic cloves (unpeeled) on the baking tray. Flip after 10 minutes, and remove before they blacken.
- When eggplant is cool enough to touch, squeeze out the water as best as you can and scoop out flesh. (I had 1 cup of eggplant flesh.) Peel the roasted garlic and mash with the eggplant. Combine with remaining ingredients (citrus juice, tahini, oil, seasonings) in blender and blend until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape sides as necessary.
- Garnish with a little more paprika and cilantro and serve with fresh vegetables, pita chips, or crackers!
Baba ganoush is one of my favorite dips and spreads but I've never tried to make it. Thanks for the recipe.