If you had told me when I was a wee one that I would not only PURCHASE eggplant voluntarily but EAT IT willingly I would have run screeching in the other direction.
Yet that day has come, and I am here to tell you about it.
I made some Baba Ganoush.
Before last week I had no idea what that was. As it turns out, it’s sort of like hummus but instead of chickpeas it uses eggplant.
So, after purchasing said eggplant at the farmer’s market, I embarked on an adventure-packed journey of discovery.
I will not show you a before picture of said eggplant, because it looked most unappetizing. Let’s just say that I had to cut a few areas away. I always choose the discounted produce at the farmer’s market because I am a glutton for punishment (and cheap like that).
After cutting off a few offensive areas and slicing the whole thing in half, I cooked that eggplant, which resulted in this slimy mass of “food.”
That, my friends, is the roasted innards of an eggplant. I had thought to spare you, but if I had to suffer, you do too.
At this point, I kind of figured I’d wasted a whole $.50 on this dumb eggplant. The consistency was gross and it was very very slimy.
But I kept following the directions (to waste MORE ingredients “just for fun”) and plopped it all in the blender.
Using the blender on gross-looking foods is kind of very satisfying. I was pretty pleased to see that gross eggplant be ground to a pulp.
Oh, and here’s the whole recipe, in case you have a spare eggplant lying around your house.
Tahini-free Baba Ganoush (adapted from here)
1 eggplant
1 T lemon juice
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (minced garlic clove would be better)
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
wee bit o’ parsley
Cook eggplant (halved and brushed with oil) in oven at 400. Let cool a bit and then peel it. Whirl all ingredients in the blender for a few minutes and cool fully in the fridge. Serve on pita chips, veggies, crackers, tortillas, etc. etc.
The end result was gross-looking. My photography skills and the late hour didn’t help either. But I DID sort of stage the photo with a Ritz cracker and some dried parsley. Nothing says delicious like that combination.
And you know what? IT WAS ACTUALLY GOOD. It was very similar to hummus (maybe a little lighter consistency).
Between this and Ken’s excellent eggplant parm, I’m a believer. My apologies to my mother for my childhood complaints against this delectable vegetable.
Planting Sequoias 