Some weekends leave you feeling refreshed and ready for the week. Some weekends leave you wishing you had a few more days to relax. And then there are weekends that leave you completely unprepared, exhausted, and dreading the week ahead.
Which one do you think I had?
Considering I haven’t posted since last Friday, I’d say it’s the latter. It wasn’t a bad weekend by any means, but a cold managed to find me via the allergy highway and, after slicing my finger last week on my cheapo mandoline (I posted details on my Facebook page), the last thing I wanted to do was cook anything. My parents were in town to do wedding things and we ate out all weekend, despite my grand plans to cook dinner at least one night. Worse things have happened, but it was disheartening since I had so many pretty CSA veggies staring at me in the fridge!
Don’t worry, I managed to use them up.
It’s interesting how the contents of our CSA has almost come full circle now that we’re nearing fall. Greens and radishes are showing up again in full force, and without the squash you’d never know it was a fall box!
This week, our haul included:
- Bok choy
- Eggplant
- Acorn squash
- Baby potatoes
- Carrots
- Head lettuce
- Radishes
- Basil
- Jalapeno peppers
Now, if you’ve been around a while, you know I don’t dig eggplant. I just can’t get into it. The texture, the color, the smell – all thumbs down. I even tried to bake cornmeal-crusted eggplant tonight and totally failed. Evidence here (thanks, Instagram):
- However, the last time my mom visited she made an easy eggplant dip, better known as Baba Ghanouj (or Ghanoush) It was tolerable, to say the least, and I know she loves it. Coming from Metro Detroit, we are surrounded by Middle Eastern culture (specifically Arabic) and food like Baba Ghanouj is the norm.
When my mom made this, she used a simple recipe without tahini. Tahini is sesame seed paste, and a common ingredient in hummus (also Middle Eastern cuisine!). Instead, she used a simple combination of:
- Roasted eggplants (2)
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Minced garlic
- Onion powder
- Cumin
- Parsley
- Roast the eggplant for 45 minutes or so, after pricking the skin with a fork. Scoop out the insides and blend with the above ingredients. Play with the proportions, but use at least a tablespoon of two of lemon juice and olive oil, and at least 3-4 cloves of garlic. Tahini would thicken the mix and make it more “hummus-like” if you can imagine.
So while I lay here and continue to recover from the weekend, tell me your thoughts on eggplant.
Love eggplant?
Hate it?
What is your favorite way to prepare it?
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We are not eggplant people either, other then Thai and Japanese eggplant in Thai curries. But that is pretty much it. I don’t get it. It tastes like a sponge. But I LOVE baba ganouj, so go figure…
Yeah I’m not into it. I could probably do it fried (as I could do anything) but it’s spongy, you are right about that.
I’ve been making a lot of baba ganoush lately and it does go over well with friends and family.
One thing I use instead of the garlic and onion is shallots. I use shallots for mostly everything that I used to use onions and garlic. It smells and tastes so good with eggplant and any other veggies in the CSA.
Also, instead of olive oil, I use sesame seed oil.
You can make pita chips from pitas by baking a bit in the oven. That way you can add salt or any seasoning that you want.
A good place to forage for these things (shallots, pitas, sesame seed oil) is Global Foods in Kirkwood. It’s a fun store to browse and shop and Kirkwood is a fun place to walk around and check out.