Baba Ghanoush

Our new cat is helping me draft this post. He's finally curled up beside me after his four post-poop laps of the apartment and has his paw on the space bar in the event I need assistance. 

As part of this cookathon I mentioned in an earlier post, I went looking for dips to include as a snack in my meal. I'm into week five of a triathlon training program and am coming to terms with the fact that peanut butter M&M's are not the afternoon boost my coach was referring to. Too bad, because I've just heard that the U.S. has limited edition coconut M&M's on hand. Sweet lord, that sounds worth a try.  This week I thought I'd replace afternoon chocolate with afternoon baba ghanoush. While very tasty, it is definitely not chocolate. Mind you, I had a few end-of-day workouts this week that wouldn't have been possible without a substance snack and this is that kind of snack. Serve it with pita bread, veggies or crackers and enjoy. Remember that the garlic in this recipe gets more intense over time, so you may opt not to bring it to the office closer to the end of the week. I have no shame, so I just kept bringing it to work. 

In other news, the recipe this is based on calls for no salt. In an effort to reduce salt intake, the authors have indicated that the acid from the lemon juice helps enhance the flavour in this dish sufficiently to warrant no additional salt. While likely true, I added Sriracha sauce and salt, because..well.. I felt it needed a bit more punch. You may want to try the recipe from Three Many Cooks first and then add the salt and sauce if you prefer a little more punch too.

Adapted From: http://threemanycooks.com/

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants, poked with a fork
• 1/2 cup packed parsley leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 T lemon juice
• 1 T smoked paprika, plus extra for sprinkling on top of the dish
• 2 t ground cumin
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of tahini
• 1 T Sriracha sauce
• 1 t salt

Method

Adjust your oven rack to a middle position and heat oven to 400F. Place the eggplants on a baking sheet and in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until they look wrinkly and sad. Once they've cooled enough to handle, remove the skin from the eggplants.

Mince parsley and garlic in a food processer. Add the eggplants and remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and top with a little smoked paprika and drizzled olive oil. Serve with chopped vegetables, crackers and/or pita wedges.