Last week, I was craving hummus and baba ghanoush. I looked both up online, and they seemed fairly simple to make. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to wait until the new food processor came in, but then I went ahead and bought these three eggplants at the farmers’ market on Saturday. Three for $1.
We asked at one stand, and the guy held up eight fingers and said, “Eight dollars.” We just looked at him and walked off. Are you kidding me?! That’d better be a magical eggplant. RV was sure that the man was setting us up for a Candid Camera moment. Three for $1 versus one for $8? Other stands were asking for $1/pound, which seemed more reasonable.
It’s been unusually hot these days, so I decided to make the two dips tonight. While preparation can break you into a sweat, eating them after refrigeration is absolutely refreshing! I first roasted the eggplants in the oven [which is why they are punctured with fork-shaped wounds], but they were too thick, so I went for the over-the-stove technique. Hooray for gas stoves!
After separating the meat from the skin of the eggplants, I threw it into the food processor. A bit of salt, several spoonfuls of tahini, a dash or four of olive oil, and some minced garlic later, the baba ghanoush was ready to be served with pita.
So good! The raw garlic gave it a bit of a kick! I didn’t write down how much of each ingredient I used since I pretty much taste-tested the entire time. It met the approval of both RV and the sister, at least!
Same for the hummus! Lots of taste-testing and not enough specific measurements. I originally wanted to use the dry chickpeas I bought last week, but that would’ve required 8+ hours of soaking ahead of time. Minor oversight. RV brought home a can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, and into the food processor that went. I added olive oil, salt, oregano, garlic, and tahini – not in that order.
The overall flavor was good, but if I had more time, I would’ve left it in the fridge longer. I will definitely try making these again [with the appropriate amount of time]!
It looks like the food processor, which I had previously tossed aside as a useless appliance, is more and more important in my adventures in the kitchen. I am really looking forward to the arrival of the new food processor!
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