Recipe: Baba Ganoush

Several months ago we ate dinner at a great Mediterranean restaurant and tried their Baba Ganoush as an appetizer. I was hooked after the first bite. I really like Hummus, but this stole the show and I knew I needed to find a recipe and make it at home (whatever did we do before the internet..lol). The recipe is easy with very few ingredients needed. If  you don't have tahini and you don't want to spend the money at the store (it can be a little spendy), you can make your own. I chose to do this because a large jar was $10 at the store and I only needed a few Tablespoons and wasn't sure how soon I'd use it again. Plus I had the ingredients to make it homemade. 

I absolutely love being able to make copycat recipes for two reasons, #1 being that I can make them with better ingredients and know exactly what I'm putting in them and #2 I can enjoy them at a fraction of the cost, in the comfort of my own home. One of our other favorites is Buffalo Wild Wings wings sauces. YUM. 

But this is about eggplant, and flat bread, and all kinds of yummy goodness.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
1 large clove garlic, finely minced or grated
1 lemon, juiced
2 Tbs. tahini (see this link to make your own, I didn't make the full recipe)
Olive Oil for roasting
Sea salt to taste
Optional: Fresh cilantro, parsley or basil

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to medium broil if you have it, if not, then high. 

2. Slice eggplant about 1/4 inch thick and place in a colander, sprinkling with sea salt and letting sit of 10 minutes to draw out extra moisture. Rinse and pat dry with a paper towel.

3. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Broil for about 5-10 minutes, turning a few times until eggplant is soft and and lightly browned. 

4. Remove from pan and stack on a large piece of foil. Wrapping up to seal in moisture for about 5 minutes.

5. Peel away as much skin as you can and place eggplant in food processor.

6. Add lemon juice, tahini, garlic and sea salt. Process until creamy. Add herbs towards the end and process just to incorporate. Season further according to your tastes. 

We served this with flat bread and it was a huge hit. 



With Joy Unquenchable,