Hello Darlings!
I am finally back on track and participating in
BetterWithVeggies’ Meatless Monday from A-Z! This week’s ingredient is
eggplant. Ever so excited, I popped over to Sprouts Farmer’s Market and they had some gorgeous organic
eggplants on sale- fabulous timing! I had also been craving hummus, which, for
me, is quite odd as I have an (very well documented) aversion to oddly textured
foods, so I challenged myself to create an incredibly smooth eggplant hummus.
And while hummus is a very simple, very standard recipe, I added a couple of
twists and was very pleased with the result!
Ingredients:
1 Can (15oz) Chickpeas (Also Called Garbanzo Beans)
One Large Eggplant
¼ Cup Tahini (I made my own using one fifth of this recipe)
1 Teaspoon Cumin
½ Teaspoon Nutmeg
Juice of One Large Lemon (about ¼ cup)
One Large Garlic clove, pressed
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1. Preheat oven to the highest temperature or the ‘Broil’
setting.
2. Slice the eggplant lengthwise and place cut side down on
a cookie sheet. With the oven rack on the highest setting roast the eggplant
for about 20 minutes or until the eggplant’s skin is almost charred and the
eggplant looks like it is sinking into itself.
3. While the eggplant is broiling, add lemon juice and tahini
into the food processor. Blend these two until they are light and fluffy 1-2
minutes.
4. Add cumin, nutmeg, pressed garlic, salt and pepper, and
blend one more minute.
3. Rinse the chickpeas well. While they are still wet,
squeeze each bean out of its outer skin. This is super annoying and rather time
consuming, but it is worth it for the much smoother consistency of the
completed hummus.
4. Add skinned chickpeas to the fluffy tahini-lemon mixture
and blend until smooth.
5. When the eggplant is broiled scoop the flesh into a bowl discarding the skin and making sure to catch the liquid that the eggplant secretes. To maintain the
super-smooth consistency I removed the vast majority of seeds from the eggplant
flesh (another rather time consuming task).
6. Add about a cup of eggplant to the ground chickpeas and
blend well.
7. Use the reserved eggplant liquid to thin out the
completed hummus, giving the final result a smoky, and smooth taste.
8. Add smoked paprika to compliment the eggplant, and serve
with pita or sliced veggies!
I love that I am back in the kitchen and get to use all of
my own cookware and serving ware, which I have finally unearthed from boxes
during my move!
