Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, and baba ghanouj is one of my favorite eggplant dishes. I roast eggplants at least once per week. I started roasting my eggplant tonight and decided midway through that I wanted baba ghanouj. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any lemons. How can you have baba ghanouj without the tang of lemon juice?!
…The answer is Greek yogurt! So, I adapted my recipe. Plus, I never have tahini, so I adapted it by toasting and grinding some sesame seeds. It works. The Greek yogurt made it so creamy and wonderful, while the garlic keeps it super-punchy. I have no shame. I ate it with a spoon.
Creamy Baba Ghanouj
Serves at least 4-6
2 globe eggplants
olive oil
salt
pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp whole cumin
2 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
Preheat oven to 350º. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the eggplant halves and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 30-45 minutes, or until the flesh is soft.
Toast the cumin and sesame seeds on the stovetop on low heat. Grind the cumin and sesame seeds finely in a spice/coffee grinder.
Spoon the eggplant flesh out of the skin and into a food processor. Add the garlic immediately (to semi-cook it). Add the ground mixture. Puree for about 30 seconds until the baba ghanouj is just a little more chunky than you prefer. Add in the Greek yogurt. Puree just long enough to incorporate the yogurt. Add more salt and pepper to taste.