Baba Ganoush!

Fresh from the market!

Eat this dish with mindfulness - watching to see how your system reacts.  This is a heavy dish and isn't something that you would want to eat on a daily basis. On the plus side - eggplant is full of manganese, folic acid, and thiamine. Tahini is full of calcium (2 Tablespoons = 103mg of calcium)  Tahini also has vitamin E, F and  a boat load of B vitamins.  Cumin helps release enzymes from the pancreas which allows for better absorption of nutrients. With the market full of these beauties, I felt the need to indulge!  I usually grill my eggplant, but today I oven roasted because I was making pickles at the same time and all my burners we being used.

Poking steam holes

This recipe makes a party size amount - 4-6 people.  Eat this fresh and share with friends if you think you're going to have leftovers.

 Baba Ganoush ~

Ingredients:
1-2 eggplants (I used 1 large one)
3 Tablespoons Olive oil
2-3 Tablespoons Tahini (sesame seed paste)
1-2 garlic cloves - finely chopped (use more if you love your garlic)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (I add extra, because it gives a fabulous digestive boost)
juice of 1 lemon (maybe a little more to tweak the flavor at the end)
Salt 
Cayenne pepper
Cilantro (for garnish)

You have options with this dish.  You can either oven roast or grill your eggplant.  Prep by poking (with love) with a fork to allow steam to escape. This is really important if you are oven roasting.  Exploding eggplant is a mess! (I speak from experience)

Grilling:  Brush with olive oil. Place on grill or over flames on the stove. Grill until skin has blacken.  Place in paper bag for 20 min. allowing the steam to loosen the skin. After it cools peal away the skin.

Oven Roast:  Place eggplant on parchment paper. Put in oven at 450 for 20-30 min.  It may take longer depending on how big your "plant" is.  You want the skin to wrinkle and the whole eggplant will feel soft when pushed. Let it rest and cool for 15 min and peal away the skin.  

Cut off end with stem and dice up eggplant.  Add all the remaining ingredients and blend with a fork, food-processor or immersion blender.  Traditionally this is a chunky looking dip, but it is up to your personal tastes as to how smooth you might want it to be. 

Season with salt, Cayenne pepper to taste.  You might want to add a little more lemon juice. Drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. 

Enjoy with fresh veggies, Pita bread, or along side your salad. I love it while it's still warm!!

Namaste`
Naomi

Finished Baba Ganoush!