Spicy Green Baba Ganoush
By: Nikki
Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 7:57am

Ingredients




1 eggplant
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne pepper 
Dash celery salt 
Sprinkle of ground cumin 
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (alternatively, you can use about 1 tsp ground coriande

Preparation

1 Pre-heat oven to 350 F, and cover a cookie sheet with tin foil. 2 Wash and slice eggplant in half from top to bottom. Place cut face down on a prepared cookie sheet, and prick little holes all over the skin with a knife. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the skin starts to look wrinkly and has a brownish tint. The eggplant will also look like it’s starting to cave in slightly. 3 In a bowl, mix all of the other ingredients. Set aside. 4 When the eggplant is finished cooking, allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Then turn the eggplant over onto the skin side, and sprinkle the inside lightly with salt. Allow to cool for another 5 minutes. 5 Using a spoon, scoop the innards of the eggplant out into the bowl with the other ingredients and stir well. 6 Toss everything into the blender, and blend on a slow speed until the mixture has reached a smooth consistency. 7 Chill for about 15 minutes prior to serving, and garnish with a sprig of parsley. This dip is best served with pita bread, crackers, or even as a vegetable dip

About


NOTE: with the amounts of ev olive oil and lemon juice, start off with less. Check the baba ganoush half way through blending to see how thick it is. If you would like a thinner dip, add more. The size of the eggplant will also determine how much of these two liquids you will need. For a tangy dip, you can also use slightly more lemon juice. To make it more bland, just decrease the lemon juice and add more ev olive oil. 
I love baba ganoush, but I just really don’t like the taste of tahini in any of my food. I also don’t like how many of the store-bought versions of this amazing eggplant dip are just not all that healthy. So on my trip to the St Lawrence Market this weekend, I picked up some eggplant, and set on a mission to make some baba ganoush to my own tastes for the first time! I’ve got to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty this dip turned out! I’ve never even attempted to cook an eggplant before, so this was like an adventure for me.  So here’s my slightly spiced (and much healthier!) version of a baba ganoush. And even though it’s an interesting shade of green (from the parsley), don’t let that turn you off of this smooth tasty dip! Enjoy!