Baba Ganoush {vegan, GF}

I’ve recently discovered a newfound obsession with hummus. I’ve always liked hummus, especially white bean hummus, but when I began dabbling with other versions of hummus (from classic hummus made with chickpeas to mung bean hummus) I discovered I was hooked. (Both recipes were delicious, BTW.) I’m constantly on the search for new flavor of hummus or hummus made with a bean or legume I’ve not yet tried. And in this quest for a new hummus recipe, I ran across recipes for Baba Ganoush.

So here’s a bit of an embarrassing confession. While I’ve heard of Baba Ganoush, I literally had no idea what it was. And I had no idea what type of ingredients were involved in Baba Ganoush; I didn’t even know it was a dip! When I found out Baba Ganoush is a dip made with eggplant I recoiled a bit. I just don’t eat eggplant. I can count the number of times I’ve tried eggplant on one hand (fried eggplant, eggplant lasagna) and I can honestly say there’s nothing about eggplant that has ever made me want to keep trying it.

Of course the fact that this delicious looking dip is made out of hummus intrigued me a bit. I wanted to try it, because I will try almost anything once, and scoured the internet for a good recipe to try. I stopped when I read Cookie + Kate‘s Epic Baba Ganoush recipe, convinced by the word “epic” in the title but also hesitant due to my general lack of love for eggplant. For this reason I leveled my expectations and hoped the dip turned out to be edible.

While I decided to go with the ingredients found in Cookie + Kate‘s recipe, I decided I wanted to use a food processor instead of mashing the ingredients. I wanted a smooth hummus-like dip. When I settled into separating the skin from the flesh I was perplexed by the enormous amount of seeds buried in the flesh. I researched several recipes and none of them addressed the seeds. Was I supposed to include them? Discard them? They looked suspiciously like off-colored chia seeds plumped by liquid, so I figured I would discard as many as possible in hopes of making the dip as smooth as possible. I believe this to have been a wise decision.

When I make hummus, I generally let it chill for a few hours or even a day before trying it. This maximizes the flavor of the hummus as all the ingredients get cozy. I decided to do the same this recipe. I did try a bit while scooping it into my serving bowl and was more than pleasantly surprised — ecstatic! — to discover it tasted rather like a smoky hummus than not. I believe I could pass this off as hummus to unsuspecting and unfamiliar eaters.

Because I love hummus, I also loved this dish. Would I make this again? Again and again and again and again!

ingredients.

• 2 lbs Italian eggplants (about 2 small-to-medium eggplants*)
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
• 2 T. lemon juice
• ¼ c. tahini
• ⅓ c. extra-virgin olive oil + more for roasting and garnish
• ¾ tsp salt, or to taste
• ½ tsp. ground cumin
• ⅛ tsp. smoked paprika + more for garnish
• Warmed or toasted pita or middle eastern flatbread, pita chips, carrot sticks, or cucumber slices