If you love hummus, chances are you will love Baba Ganoush! These two dips/spreads share a lot of the same ingredients. The star of hummus is chickpeas and the star of baba ganoush is eggplant. You can grill or roast the eggplant. Instructions for both are below. #Babaganoush #SoNomNom4u #Vegetarian
2 medium eggplants
4 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
juice of half a lemon
¼ cup tahini
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 sprigs flat parsely, for garnish
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin + garnish
Directions:
Cook the eggplant by using one of the two methods below. YOU CHOOSE.
Grill: Heat grill. Cut the eggplants in half. Brush a couple of tablespoons of olive oil on the cut sides of the eggplant halves. Place halves flat side down onto the hot grill. Make sure you grill these indirectly. You do not want to catch them on fire. Grill them for about 30 minutes or until they are soft all the way through and contain nice grill lines.
Roast in oven: Preheat oven to 450° Cut eggplants in half and brush the cut sides with some olive oil. Line a baking pan with parchment and place each eggplant half cut side down on the parchment lined baking pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the eggplant is completely cooked and soft.
After cooking egglplant, cool down to a touchable temperature. Pick up each half and scrape the cooked eggplant out of the shell and into a fine mesh strainer. Repeat until all eggplant is in the strainer. using a spoon, push the eggplant into the mesh until juices come draining out. Push a few times then leave it set to drain alone for 30 minutes to ensure there won't be too much moisture in the dip. Nobody wants a soupy dip!
After the eggplants are completely drained, place them into a food processor, stand alone mixer or blender. Add the tahini, salt, cumin, and lemon juice. Slowly add 1/2 cup of olive oil as the mixture is mixing. Stop mixing when your eggplant and all the other ingredients are well blended and resemble a thick creamy dip.
Pour into a serving bowl. Top with olive oil. Sprinkle with cumin or paprika, garnish with flat pasley, and serve with Pita Chips, or fresh veggies.
