Eggplant For Dummies

Thanks for the tips. I never cooked egg plant and I"m not even sure if I like it, but I'll give it another try.

Jennifer @ Peanut Butter and Peppers

I recently grilled it and used it in a couscous salad (recipe posted on my blog). I have also dipped it in an egg wash and saltine crumbs and fried it. Eggplant parmesan is another favorite! :) This recipe sounds really good and while I don't have a cat, I will see if I can get my chihuahua to help! Gotta try it and really appreciate your substitution for expensive tahini. :)

Lauren

Hi Lisa,

My husband is middle Eastern and we are big Baba Ganosh fans and eat lots of eggplant. I love your version with the peanut butter instead of the Tahini very clever. I'm going to pin it and then give it a try.

Judee Algazi

Awesome recipe, Lisa, My wife loves baba ganoush, so this will be a fun surprise.

When I make my own hummus, I take a Tbsp or so of roasted sesame seeds (I think the shaker-top container was a few bucks at a local "ethnic" supermarket), toss them in our high-end blender to make a sesame powder. I use that instead of tahini and substitute water for oil and it seems to taste just fine. I'll likely do the same thing for the baba.

Andy D

I peeled and sliced 3/8" to 1/2" thick eggplant with onions, peppers and tomatoes. Tossed them with oil, salt and pepper and roasted them on the grill with Italian sausage. Tossed with pesto and served on pasta just last evening.

Mark Boerboom

This sounds awesome! I recently have become a veggie by choice and my youngest (4) is a self made veggie. I'm going to try this this week and hopefully he will try it. I will use almond butter instead of PB. Thanks for sharing!

Kim

AAAAGGGGH! I wish I had seen this post before I created an olive oil sponge out of an eggplant last night and am dealing with all the residual guilt from eating it. And it wasn't even good! This recipe looks delicious, I will have to re-do my eggplant experience and purge the pre-snack-girl mistakes from my mind. Thanks for such a great blog!

Robi

I'm going to be getting my first eggplant from my CSA tomorrow and was wondering what to do with it when I saw your post! What timing!! Thanks, Snack Girl!!

Laura Pouliot

This eggplant dip sounds yummy and easy! One way we enjoy eggplant is as a gratin when fresh tomatoes are available. The aroma fills the whole house: Cut 2 lrg. eggplant and 2 lrg onions each 1/4" thick, sprinkle with salt, italian herbs and olive oil, bake on foil-lined cookie sheets at 350F until soft, about 30min. Cut 2 lrg tomatoes in 1/4" slices. Arrange vegetables in overlapping layers in pan, sprinkle with salt, minced garlic and light layer of bread crumbs [Parmesan, red pep flakes, panko, parsley]. Extra panko mix over last layer and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake 40 mins 350F. So good!

We also love eggpl parm and ratatouille. Baked or fried eggpl slices freeze well too to save time later on.

Barb

eggplant is my FAVORITE! I love it so much-- having given up meat- it has such a meaty chew to it- I throw it in with my lentils- as they cook- or make a huge pot of ratatouille-- it is the best!

Sally Curtis Wimberley

Okay, I'm one of those who has never cooked eggplant;)

When you say to poke it with a fork, do you mean once or all over?

Phoebe

@Sally Curtis Wimberley - awesome "throw it in with my lentils" suggestion! My wife and I have given up meat (and eggs and dairy), too, so this sounds like a good way to bring back that "meaty" chew.

Thank you!

Andy D

Yum yum! I have been looking for a healthier veggie dip. This looks soooo tasty!

Thanks!

Kielecia

You can also subsitute greek yogurt for the tahini. There's an eggplant dish called "Ikra" which is sometimes referred to as "poor man's caviar" and is enjoyed by many middle easterners and Russians. It is delicious as a dip or spread onto pita bread. Here is a simple recipe: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=290…

Izabel

No @Phoebe, you're not the only one. I love Baba Ghanoush and have never even thought about making it myself. I will have to find an eggplant and try this. It sounds yummy!

Janet

This recipe sounds like a keeper.. I love eggplant.. Thanks for the other few tips from your readers..

Annie

We eat our eggplants in a ratatouille variation or a pasta primavera variation. We get lots of various vegetables in summer, with a garden and a CSA, so whatever we have around goes in the pot with the chopped eggplant. Right now it's yellow squash, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, corn cut off the cob, onions, garlic..nummy.

shris

I'm Greek and live in SF! I use eggplant a lot. So many of my friends were not lovers of the veg until they came for dinner. Sometimes I buy the really small ones and put them on a kabob and BBQ it! Goes great with Kabob chicken, steak and other veggies. One thing I learned is that when you kabob dont mix the meat with the veggies. Some cook faster than others so do them separately. BON eating!

goldie Portolos Nam

Eggplant is my favorite vegetable. I'm so glad to find out that it's super nitritious, too! I usually prefer to roast or grill it, but sometimes I'll make Spiced Eggplant Stew with Tomatoes and Chickpeas. (Garam Masala works well as a spice for this.). Eggplant is also great with Amy ofthe Asian stir fry sauces.

Nina

Great idea! I love that you tried PB instead of tahini - I'm also so deterred by the hefty price of tahini at the store.

Jess @ Floptimism

Thanks so much for the tip on substituting peanut butter for the tahini. I usually don't make this dish because I also I'm to cheap to buy tahini when I would use it so infrequently.

Sue

I have never eaten eggplant because I didn't know what to do with it. I would love to try this dip recipe, but my daughter is allergic to both peanuts (and all nuts) and sesame. Any other ideas as a replacement for the pnut butter?

Jaye

I was a bit skeptical, but I just finished blending it (still hot!) and it's delicious! Thank you! Do you think it will freeze well? I'm not sure I can eat it all at once!

Michelle

Any good sub for peanut butter?

Martina

@Martina- would you be okay with other nut butters? If so, almond butter is pretty easy to find (our local grocery store carries it in their "healthy food" section. If you're avoiding nut butters in general, maybe you could make a tahini paste (from sesame seeds) or something similar from flax seeds or chia seeds. (I've never done the latter, but I imagine it would work, given the right tools (e.g., a food processor? high-end blender?).)

Andy D

Many people do not like eggplant and this is often due to how it is prepared. I was taught long ago that sliced eggplant should be generously salted and pressed to draw out excess water. I use a Japanese pickle press or a plate with a weight to press out the water. This process takes at least half and hour but is very worth it. When most of the water has been removed, rinse the slices in fresh water, dry and prepare according to the recipe. The process allows for the best eggplant parmesan and various grilled and roasted recipes and allows for more absorption of the flavors it is cooked with. I am not sure how it will work with this recipe but it is worth a try.

I_Fortuna

I have boiled the egg plant in a little water, added salt and pepper, and a little flour and then grilled them as little pancakes. They are very tasty. Could use pan cake mix to thicken them instead of the flour and maybe add an egg. I never did really have a recipe for egg plant pancakes, but my grandson loved them.

Fran Griner

while food can be prepared any old way, may i say that eggplant dip is a favorit rumanian dish, as well as turkish and of cours arab. in israel is it one of the commonest dishes too. it is prepared like so: unpilled eggplant put on the open fire (gas) with or without wrapping it in foil. or put whole in a hot oven untill piping hot and soft. then it can be put under cold water and laid to rest, (it needs to be puckered) and let the juices seep out. when cold, the inside pulp which must be very soft, is scooped with a spoon, making sure not to scoop the skin, which supposed to be burnt. then it can be mashed with a fork preferrably or with a food processor. add ground garlic, salt and lemon juice. then you can eat it with chopped tomatoes or add mayonaise which is yummy or with a spoon or two of raw tehini (techina as it is called originally).

another thing, although it is customary to cut the eggplant, no matter how it is done, to slices or cubes and then put in the sun to let the bitter juices seep out, i never do that and my eggplant dishes come out just fine.

adi

I Love love eggplant however i can't seem to know how to choose the best ones without all the seeds, does anyone know a way around them>>I tried salting and scrapping them out using a spoon?

Dawn Scheerer

I find adding peanut butter quite... not positive. In Israel we eat lots and lots of eggplants in many ways. One of the favorite ways is adding mayonnaise and not tehini, though tehini is added many times as it is very cheap her. Another thing, refrain from food processor after burning or grilling the whole eggplant, use a fork and simply mash it as best you can. much better this way, takes a few minutes. while so doing, it is easy to pluck out some of the seeds.

Adi

One question...can I substitute 1 tablespoon of tahini for the peanut butter. The peanut butter is 3 WW points and the tahini is 1 WW point. Maybe you have to put in more tahini than you would peanut butter?

Donna