My husband had NO idea what I was making when I told him that I planned to make Baba Ganoush for a friend’s party. But he was very pleasantly surprised when he realized that it’s a delicious, creamy bean-less hummus (I didn’t tell him that it’s made with eggplant because he thinks he doesn’t like eggplant!). And the best part???? It’s Whole30 and Paleo!!! Yep, you can still have a magical tahini flavored dip while eating Whole30 and Paleo. Woot! Woot!
Ok, so here’s the down side…it’s a bit more complicated and time consuming to make than regular chick-pea hummus. BUT… I do think that it’s worth the effort if you really love hummus but don’t love beans. And by making a large batch you can enjoy your efforts for days on end!
This is how to make my Baba Ganoush…
I start with 2 medium Italian eggplants, cut them lengthwise and brush the cut sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. I then place the eggplants, cut side down, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I then roast the eggplant at 450 F for 40 minutes. This is what the eggplant should look like when it’s baked:
They should look like this on the cut side…
I then let the eggplant cool for a bit before scooping the flesh (not the skins) into a strainer over a bowl so that some of the liquid drains out (I pushed it around & squished it a bit to get as much liquid out as I could). Don’t worry about the seeds, they’re edible.
Sorry for this ugly picture, but I don’t own a nice strainer (yet)…and the eggplant at this stage just isn’t pretty!
After it’s been strained, I add the eggplant to a bowl with 1/4 cup of tahini paste, the juice from 1 lemon, 1 Tsp of lemon zest, a few cloves of garlic, 1/2 Tsp cumin, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and salt/pepper to taste. Then I blend it all with an immersion blender till it’s smooth. It makes about 2 cups of creamy Baba Ganoush!
When I’m ready to serve it, I drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil, and garnished it with a touch of lemon zest and some Cajun spice…and surround it with all of my favorite veggies!!!
If you area still reading this and are thinking…wow, that’s a lot of work…be sure to check out my Sweet Potato Hummus (it’s got that tahini flavor, but is a touch sweeter…and is faster/easier to make).
- 2 medium Italian eggplants, cut lengthwise
- ¼ cup of tahini paste
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 Tsp of lemon zest
- A few cloves of garlic
- ½ Tsp cumin
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt/pepper to taste.
- Cajun spice and lemon zest to garnish.
- Brush the cut sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the eggplants, cut side down, on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Roast the eggplant at 450 F for 40 minutes.
- I then let the eggplant cool for a bit before scooping the flesh (not the skins) into a strainer over a bowl so that some of the liquid drains out (pushed it around & squish it a bit to get as much liquid out as you can). Don't worry about the seeds, they're edible.
- After it's been strained, I add the eggplant to a bowl with the tahini paste, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, cumin and ½ of the olive oil, salt/pepper to taste.
- Blend the eggplant with an immersion blender till it's smooth.
- Add more olive oil until it's the desired consistency.
- When you are ready to serve it, drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil, and garnished it with a touch of lemon zest and some Cajun spice...and surround it with all of your favorite veggies (or grain-free tortilla chips if you are eating paleo).