Roasted Eggplant Dip

So yesterday I bought a beautiful eggplant at the farmer’s market. I was thinking of what I could do with it; parmesan, rollatini, pasta, lasagna, etc. I was researching online to see what else was out there. Apparently, there are tons of ways to prepare eggplant. I kept seeing tons of different recipes for dips.

Babaganush is a eggplant dip served in many greek and mediterranean dishes. I have had it many times before, but I have never made it. Traditionally, it calls for tahini paste. Tahini is made from sesame seeds that are soaked in water and then crushed to separate the bran from the kernels. The crushed seeds are soaked in salt water, causing the bran to sink. The floating kernels are skimmed off the surface, toasted, and ground to produce an oily paste. Fun fact for the day!

Anyways, I didn’t have any tahini paste handy, and I did not want to make a special trip to the store to buy any, so I improvised with what I had. I ended up adding more olive oil and some red wine vinegar. I only used 1 eggplant here and ate half of this dip in one sitting with some carrots and pita chips. I would say one eggplant for every 2 people if you have a bunch of eggplant lovers. I also LOVE garlic, so I added 2 cloves. You can certainly use less or sub garlic powder for less intense garlic flavor.

Roasted Eggplant Dip- serves 2

1 eggplant- cut in half, salt and pepper, and add plenty of olive oil. Cook in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Let it cool.

Scoop out your eggplant filling. The skin should easily peel off. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and 2 garlic cloves finely minced. You could even pulse this all in a mini-food processor if you wish. I added a shake of Mrs. Dash.

Serve with chips, veggies, or crusty bread. You could even use this as a spread on a sandwich. If you like eggplant, you will love this dish!