Roasted Red Pepper Baba-ghanoush

by timbit1985 in Cooking > Snacks & Appetizers

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Roasted Red Pepper Baba-ghanoush

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I don't do well with grains, legumes or dairy. As such, I am constantly looking for delicious, nutritious snacks. Finding a legume free AND dairy free dip can be difficult. This dip is one of my favourites. I am a bit of a lazy cook, I never measure anything. To the dismay of my wife (who follows recipes), I never have much insight beyond "a bit of this or a bit of that" when asked what else a particular recipe requires. I suppose you could call me an instinctive cook. I just do what feels right! So please forgive my lack of solid volumes and amounts.

For the uninitiated, baba-ghanoush is an eggplant dip similar to hummus. I believe it is an Arabic recipe. It is traditionally served with flat-bread or crudites (raw vegetables). It is also delicious as a sandwich spread. 

Ingredients

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  • 2-4 Chinese/Japanese eggplants (They are much tastier than the normal)
  • 2-3 Red peppers
  • Something spicy, (i.e Sriracha, thai red chilli, jalapeno etc (not everyone likes spicy in my house, so I omitted)
  • 2 shallots
  • a scoop of coconut oil
  • 0-5 cloves of garlic (optional, I make it without because my wife is allergic.)
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil (For the love of all that is holy, don't call it EVOO)
  • Sea Salt and Pepper
  • a scoop of Tahini
  • 1 lemon, juiced and half of the zest.

It's Getting Hot in Here...

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  • Turn oven to broil, set the oven rack on medium to high setting
  • Put a pat of coconut oil on your hands, and rub down all the veggies so they are all slightly oiled.
  • Broil the veggies for 8-12 minutes a side until the skin is blackened.
  • Turn the veggies every 5 minutes to get an even roast.
  • Once they are done roasting, put them in a large pot or bowl, and cover them with a lid. This lets them steam the skins off.
  • Remove the skins from the peppers by rubbing and picking them off.
  • The easiest way to remove the flesh from the eggplant is by scooping it out with a spoon.
  • If you are using hot peppers, make sure you wash your hands after you wash them. You really don't want to be touching your eyes or face with hot-pepper juice on them. OUCH! (I speak from experience, all though it was something further south that got the hot-tomales)

BLEND IT!

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Put the remaining ingredients into your food processor along with the roasted veggies. If any juice came off your veggies during the roasting process, be sure to include that in the mixing bowl. Don't add the olive oil just yet.

You should have the following in your mixing bowl
  • Veggies
  • tahini
  • shallots
  • hot peppers (optional)
  • a bit of salt and pepper.
  • lemon juice and zest
Blend until smooth, and taste. You might need to add small amounts of salt and pepper until the flavours really pop. At this point, run the food processor again, and drizzle in 1-3 glugs of good olive oil. The amount depends on how thick you like your dip. I normally add about a glug.

How much is a glug? More than a splash, less than 3 tbs.  

P.S
My wife tells me that this picture looks like the insides of an animal. I suppose it does.

Chill Out and Serve

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Time to chill the dip and then serve with whatever you like to eat dip with. I really like this dip on veggies, but it would be excellent on toast, crackers, chips, crisps, sammiches, etc.