Ok, so eggplant, I like. I've always liked eggplant, but it's one of those veggies that hardly ever bought. Before Bountiful Baskets I really was in a veggie rut. I would buy maybe some lettuce and cucumbers or something to make salad. Broccoli. Uh, oh and maybe some zucchini or squash. Now, I typically get at least one or two curve balls. Not usually something that is so foreign I have no idea what to do with it. But usually something that wasn't on my typical shopping list.
So, last week when I got eggplant, I made eggplant Parmesan. Oh, I actually made too many of the little fried lovelies, because my friend donated hers to me. I froze the extras and figured I could make single serving eggplant Parmesan by just throw them in the toaster oven and warm them up. Actually, I took a couple of the leftover ones and topped a pizza with them. This was based roughly on a chicken parm pizza at a local pizza joint. All of the fried eggplant deliciousness was awesome.
So, this week when I got more eggplant, I wasn't thinking eggplant parmesan. First of all, it's still 137,000 degrees outside, so a heavy cheesy meal was the best sounding thing. Ok, who am I kidding, breaded, fried and cheesy always sounds good. But I did want a change of pace. I've kind of been on a Middle Eastern kick lately. So, I thought I would make Baba Ghanoush.
I was at Target when the inspiration struck me. So, I thought I'd see if they had tahini. I knew I had just seen it somewhere completely random the other day, and thought perhaps it was Target. It totally wasn't. I confused almost every single employee in Target asking for tahini. For those of you who are just as confused, tahini is simply sesame seed paste. It's used in hummus and baba ghanoush. But I texted my mom who assured me that I could make it sans the tahini. And it would cut down on the fat as well.
All I did was cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, brushed with olive oil and baked cut side down for about 40 minutes on 425, till soft. Then, I scooped it into the food processor with two cloves garlic, grated onion, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Now, I was supposed to put olive oil in it too, but I totally forgot. So, I drizzled some on top. Now, since there is essentially just eggplant in this dip, I used that as an excuse to chow down on all of it. And it was delicious.
I made kebabs from the bell pepper, mushrooms from the basket, along with cubed chicken. I simply brushed with olive oil and topped with curry, cayenne salt and pepper, then grilled till the chicken was done. And pita. Gotta have some warm, fluffy pita.
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