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Baba Ganoush

ByMeghan Telpner Last updated on
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Baba Ganoush
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I used to think that eggplants were funny looking and had an ugly name. Now, when I look at their shiny and smooth purple skins all I see is a thing of beauty. And you can make so many delicious things with it, like baba ganoush.

I ignored eggplants for quite a while, a random one to ignore for so long I know. The thing is that they are a member of the nightshade group of veggies (along with tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers). Nightshades contain a phytochemical in them called solanine that may or may not (depending on what you read) promote inflammation, specifically in joint regions, and even more specifically, in rheumatic joints. 

When I was diagnosed eons ago with an inflammatory bowel disease, I avoided any and all inflammation promoting foods – whether that inflammation related to the joints, the bowels or anywhere else in the vicinity of me.

The thing is, I really like eggplant. I don’t have an inflammatory bowel disease anymore and actually don’t seem to have any inflammation of any kind and so I was ready with open arms to bring this purple vegetable into my life. I did so with baba ganoush. Why? Because I like delicious dips!

How to Serve Baba Ganoush

Serve this delicous eggplant dip with:

At my first go, experimenting with this vegetable I did not expect a home run on our first rendezvous together, but I got it. I totally scored a homer. This baba ganoush recipe is a winner.

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Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush

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  • Author: Meghan Telpner
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Description

A simple dip that goes well with your favourite crackers and crudites.

Ingredients

Scale

1 large eggplant
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp sesame tahini
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (I toasted mine in a dry pan over medium heat)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp chile powder (optinal)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to broil setting.
  2. Prick eggplant a few times.
  3. Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until soft, and looking kind of toasty on the outside (skin may blacken a little).
  4. Remove from oven and let cool.
  5. Cut the eggplant in half and scrape out the gooey inside
  6. Blend/process eggplant together with remaining ingredients in a food processor or blender.
  7. Add additional sea salt (or lemon juice) as needed.
  8. Enjoy on salad, in a wrap/sandwich or as a dip.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag me @meghantelpner — I can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

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24 Comments

  1. awesome — I have one eggplant in the fridge — was going to make eggplant bacon (recipe from “Everyday Raw”).

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  2. Very curious about eggplant bacon too, but in the meantime, will happily munch on this lovely baba ghanoush version. Yummy! I too avoided the nightshades when I first started working on a restricted diet for my digestive issues, but I could not stay away from tomatoes and peppers too long – and fortunately, I seem to be ok eating them. Eggplants I do more rarely, and almost always in the form of baba ghanoush, so I am thrilled to try another version of it. Potatoes are a different story though – boo – I avoided them for 8 months, but had them last week while travelling and did not feel good. Oh well.

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  3. Pine nuts? That’s brilliant! I like working with Italian eggplants b/c they’re smaller and less seeds.
    I hear the eggplant bacon is delish!

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  4. Great recipe! And here I was thinking that you posted this today in honour of Mia Jean’s grandmothers :) Not a bad tribute at all!

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  5. Ive recently discovered Eggplants too. Except here in Europe we call them Aubergines. I think that sounds much classier and far more appetising!

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  7. I loooove eggplant.

    True Story: When I was pregnant with my daughter, my aunt swore to me that eating eggplant would put me into labor since I was near my due date. I munched some Eggplant Parm and was in labor within 5 hours. I think it was a coincidence, but who knows!

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  8. I love eggplants (despite what they might look like…). They are really hard to find around here in the winter (unless you like them saggy and wrinkled) but I will definitely look forward to trying this recipe as soon as I can – I really love Baba Ganoush but have stopped eating it because of all the additives in the store-bought version. So excited to be able to make my own!

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  11. You are hilarious!!! This blog cracked me up. Thanks for the info about eggplant and inflammatory bowel disease. I had no idea. There’s a raw baba ganoush recipe I found in a raw cookbook somewheres and plan to post on my page one of these days. It’s very similar to yours, except you soak the eggplant instead of cook it. Would you ever consider eating raw eggplant? I’m a little nervous. :)

    Btw. My toothbrush looks like someone took a highlighter pen to it. Yummy yummy tumeric tea.

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  12. Thanks for sharing this. I got an eggplant once, took pictures of it in the sunshine, let it sit on my counter, had every intention of making something with it, let it get moldy and threw it out. Not very environmentally friendly of me, I know. Plus, I HATE wasting food. I tried to console myself by the fact that I had indeed gotten some lovely pictures with it. The fact of the matter is, I had NO idea what to do with an eggplant. Long story short, I now know. So, thanks. Next time I see an eggplant, I’ll have to try this. : )

    P.S. In case you’re interested, I’m having a giveaway right now for Glass Dharma glass straws. They are really pretty and go great in green smoothies, juices, or even just lemon water.

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  13. *****Eggplant Bacon — from page 58 of Everyday Raw cookbook*****
    eggplant (thinly sliced lengthwise), sea salt, dried chipotle chile (soaked), maple syrup, olive oil, nama shoyu, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, paprika, cumin.
    Combine eggplant and sea salt in a large bowl, let sit for 2 hours. Blend remaining ingredients in vitamix. let eggplant marinate 30-45 minutes. Dehydrate 24-36 hours, until crisp.
    It does sound odd, but I’ve read about it on another blog and she loved this.

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  14. Wow, I just made this tonight.

    I love thinking about how Meghan Telpner can inspire what is going on in a kitchen that is miles away. You’re incredible, lady. And chock-full of brilliant ideas.

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  15. I tried this with toasted almonds (chopped) instead of pine nuts, and it was very good except the very dominating garlic (“2 cloves, are you sure?”). So I made it into a sauce by heating it with some sauteed onions, and poured it over steamed broccoli and sweet potato. Awesome!

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  16. I made this yesterday — SOOOO DELICIOUS!! I was going to steam some cauliflower to go with our sweet potato buckwheat burgers, but my 11 year old wanted to just dip the raw cauliflower into the baba ganoush (less work for me, so I was all for it). This dip was a hit with everyone at my house, even with my 4 year old daughter!! oh,and they loved the burgers too :)

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  17. Hey Meghan, just to clarify, it’s the “gooey insides” of the eggplant that goes into the dip, right? Do you just discard the husk?

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