My first taste of baba ghannouj was at the cafeteria on the Saudi Aramco compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and I could easily make a lunch out of their hummus, baba ghannouj, and flatbread. Baba ghannouj is a traditional Middle Eastern dish made from eggplant that has been grilled or roasted, and the smoky flavor carries over to this simple dip that’s popular all over the Middle East. Depending on where you eat, it will probably have eggplant, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, and parsley, and may also have chopped tomatoes, cumin, mint, onions, yogurt, or mayonnaise. So consider this a base recipe, a jumping off point to play with and have fun experimenting with the flavors.

I wish the eggplant came from our garden, but after three years of fighting pests that devour the plants, we finally decided that eggplant just wasn’t a good fit for our garden. Fortunately our homegrown garlic and parsley do add some good flavor to the dish. I hope you’ll join us for the third anniversary of Grow Your Own this month! Posts are due on August 31 and should be sent to me at andreasrecipesgyo AT gmail DOT com. You can find more information at the Grow Your Own page.

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BABA GHANNOUJ (BABA GANOUSH)

Adapted from The Complete Middle East Cookbook, by Tess Mallos.

Serves 6.

Equipment

food processor

Ingredients

1 eggplant (12 ounces/375 g)
1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sesame tahini
2 cloves garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 sprigs parsley

SERVE WITH
khoubiz (pita)

Preparation

1. Pierce the eggplant in a few places, then grill the whole eggplant for about 30 to 40 minutes over medium hot coals, turning about every 7 minutes. Peel the skin off while it’s still hot and remove the stem end, then rough chop the flesh. Place it in a colander and drain out the liquid.

2. Add the flesh to the work bowl of the food processor and puree it. Add the lemon juice and tahini and pulse a few times until well mixed.

3. Add the garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt. Process well and add more lemon juice and salt to taste.

4. Add the olive oil and parsley, processing until the parsley is chopped but still visible.

5. Serve in a shallow dish garnished with parsley. Will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Variation

Roast the eggplant in a 400° F/220° C oven.

Other Eggplant Recipes

More Eggplant Recipes From Around the Blogs

Food Blogga – Easy Baked Eggplant Parmesan

FatFree Vegan – Creamy Creole Eggplant Casserole

Kalyn’s Kitchen – Pan-Fried White Eggplant with Onion, Caper, and Herb Sauce

Viet World –Hmong Spicy Eggplant (Lws Kubtshis Tuav)

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Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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In the summertime we grow tomatoes in our garden, and sometimes we get a bumper crop like we did this past year. We ended up with so many tomatoes we couldn’t eat them fast enough and I slow roasted a few batches to put away for the winter. If you look up “slow roasted tomatoes” on Food Blog Search you’ll find several blogs have written about it, and I chose to follow the instructions at A Veggie Venture. After roasting I packed the tomatoes into jars with the olive oil and spices leftover from roasting and topped off with more olive oil. The jars keep well in the freezer.

We’ve used them in several ways, and last week we opened another jar and added some to a batch of hummus. It only took a few bites for Michael to proclaim this the best-tasting hummus we had ever made and we quickly went through it and made more. This makes a great healthy dip that I like to nibble on for lunches, but we also like to spread it on sandwiches.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. I am the host for this round, so please send your entries to me at andreasrecipesgyo AT gmail DOT com. Entries are due on January 30. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page. (New badges for 2009 are available there.)

If you have participated in GYO at least one time you are eligible to join our Flickr photo pool as well as volunteer to host. If you are interested in either of those, please let me know.

[Update: August 2009, featured on Saveur.com in their Best of the Web section!]

SLOW ROASTED TOMATO HUMMUS

Makes about 2 cups.

Equipment

food processor

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (or 1/2 cup dry beans, soaked overnight, then drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup tahini (I prefer Ziyad brand, but any will do.)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
6 slow roasted tomato halves in olive oil (I roasted mine with garlic, basil, oregano, kosher salt, and pepper.)
2 to 3 tablespoons of the seasoned olive oil from the tomatoes

Preparation

In the bowl of the food processor, add the beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and tomatoes. Process for a few seconds to get the mixture started. While the processor runs, begin drizzling in the seasoned olive oil, starting with 2 tablespoons, adding more as necessary to create a smooth paste. Serve with raw vegetables or whole wheat pita or baguette slices.

Variations

If you do not have slow-roasted tomatoes, you can use commercially prepared sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil.

Other Dip Recipes From This Blog

More Hummus Recipes From Around the Blogs

Karina’s Kitchen – Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Steamy Kitchen – Smoky Hummus

Wednesday Chef – Paula Wolfert’s Hummus

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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Early today I returned home from 10 glorious days of vacation to find our garden in full production mode. All the tomato plants have green tomatoes, teasing, making me wait until they ripen. I could pick some of the green peppers to encourage more flowering, and I probably will as I find it difficult to wait for peppers to fully ripen to a beautiful red, yellow, or orange.

The parsley is very bushy, even though I trimmed it back before we left and made fresh tabouleh with the leaves and stems. Tabouleh is one of the healthiest salads you can make; the parsley alone is bursting with 13 vitamins and minerals and even supplies protein; the bulgur provides fiber, protein, and potassium; the tomatoes are rich in vitamin C and lycopene; and the scallions are a significant source of vitamin K, about 250% of the daily requirement. Somehow knowing that the salad is so healthy makes it taste even more delicious.

My first taste of tabouleh came while living in Saudi Arabia about 15 years ago, and I still crave Middle Eastern food to this day. Serve this as a side dish with kabobs and fresh pita.

This is my contribution to the blogging event Grow Your Own. Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi are hosting this round, so be sure you visit their blog for more information on how to participate. The deadline for posts is July 30.

Other Middle Eastern Recipes You Might Like

Equipment

medium bowl
fine sieve
2 tea towels
large bowl
cruet or small jar with lid

Ingredients

3/4 cup (112 g) bulgur (aka burghul)
16 ounces (475 ml) cold water
2 cups (80 g) coarsely chopped fresh parsley
3 green onions (aka scallion, spring onion), finely chopped
1/4 cup (10 g) chopped mint
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 ripe, firm tomatoes, seeded and diced
crisp lettuce leaves (optional)

DRESSING
1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Pour the bulgur wheat into the medium bowl and cover with the cold water. Allow to sit for 30 minutes.

2. While the bulgur soaks, wash the parsley and trim away any large, tough stalks. Lay the damp parsley in a tea towel and wrap lightly. Place in the refrigerator until it’s crispy and mostly dry.

3. Strain the wet bulgur through the sieve, then pour onto a tea towel and allow to dry a little. Pour the bulgur into the large bowl and add the chopped green onions. Toss and squeeze with your hands so the bulgur absorbs the onion flavor.

4. Add the chopped parsley and the mint, and toss.

5. Pour the lemon juice into the cruet or jar, and add the salt and pepper. Shake for about 30 seconds, then add the olive oil and shake until the mixture is fairly homogeneous. Pour over the salad and stir.

6. Add the seeded, diced tomatoes and stir. Cover the bowl and chill for at least 1 hour.

7. Serve in small bowls with the lettuce leaves. Whisk together the lemon juice and salt and sprinkle on top of each serving.

Resources

Wikipedia – Tabbouleh

Wikipedia – Burghul

Wikipedia – Parsley

Wikipedia – Scallion

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Source: adapted from The Complete Middle East Cookbook, by Tess Mallos

Thanks for reading this blog through a feed! Copyright © 2005-2010 Andrea Meyers: cooking, gardening & four hungry guys.

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Having spent a few years in the Middle East, I have an interest in the foods of the region. Saudi Aramco World magazine’s May/June edition has an article about the first-ever cookbook from Hunza, a high northern valley in Pakistan. If you are interested in traditional international cuisines, the article is definitely worth a look.

“Using their local ingredients, generations of women in Pakistan’s northernmost valley developed a remarkably imaginative culinary repertoire. Recently, some 25 women pooled their talents to produce the first-ever Hunza recipe book—and many of its offerings adapt easily to modern kitchens almost anywhere.”

The foods in the cookbook are traditional, although the article describes how the local cuisine has changed with the advent of a highway into the area. For example, the women used to gather salt to use in their cooking, but now they buy it at the local market, and the flavor is not quite the same. They also have a larger variety of foods available now.

The article includes some of the recipes from the book, such as Baloganze Pitchu and Hosarye Hoi, as well as some really nice examples of food photography. The magazine also included a classroom guide which contains a brief lesson on food photography.

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My mouth started watering when I read this recipe in Bon Appétit a couple years ago, and I fixed it for dinner the next day. Because we had no brown lentils on hand, I used a bag of red lentils from the pantry. I had what I initially thought was a flop when the red lentils turned into a mixture with the consistency of watery pureed potatoes. I wasn’t too worried since this was not being served to guests, so I just skimmed off the excess water and stirred in some of the dressing. What started as a flop eventually turned into our standard way of fixing the lentils, and this dish has become a permanent fixture in our kitchen. I cut the amount of water for cooking the lentils in half, and they became that we think is amazing comfort food.

We love the dressing, and I usually double the recipe and pour it over the chicken right in the skillet. I’ve made a few other changes to the dressing, such as reducing the amount of olive oil and adding the cinnamon.

You can have this ready in 30 to 45 minutes if you work on the chicken while the lentils are cooking.

Equipment

3 quart pot
12 inch nonstick skillet
sharp knife

Ingredients

DRESSING
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

LENTILS
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound red lentils, rinsed, drained

CHICKEN
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped fresh parsley (garnish)

Preparation

1. Dressing: Add the olive oil, vinegar, cumin, chili powder, garlic, cinnamon, and salt to a blender bottle or jar with a tight lid. Shake until ingredients are well combined. Set aside.

2. Lentils: Combine water and salt in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Add lentils; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until lentils are tender and have absorbed the water completely, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in 3 or 4 tablespoons of the dressing.

3. Chicken: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet over high heat. Add onion and sauté until dark brown and soft, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and sauté 2 minutes. Add salt, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon. Sauté until chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes longer.

4. Place a serving of lentils on a plate and cover with sliced chicken and dressing. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Variations

We often pour the dressing over the chicken after it’s finished cooking in the skillet and let it sit for a few minutes.

I have substituted apple cider vinegar when I had no red wine vinegar in the pantry, and it turned out very nice with a slightly sweet twist.

Resources

Wikipedia – Lentils

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Source: adapted from Bon Appétit, January 2004

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I was first introduced to hummus while working in Saudi Arabia. The cafeteria cooks on the Saudi Aramco compound made some really excellent hummus. The color was almost like alabaster and the texture was very smooth. The local pita was very thin, and we would take a torn piece between the thumb and index finger and pinch up the creamy hummus.

Party fare always included hummus, and I asked the other teachers how to make it. The answer was almost always the same: garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, tahini. No amounts included. So I started experimenting and reading many different recipes for hummus, and after many experimental versions I finally hit the nail on the head. When I taste it I can close my eyes and imagine that I’m back in Saudi Arabia—it’s that close to the stuff I remember.

I’ve made hummus a regular part of our diet at home. As toddlers, my boys first tasted hummus on their morning toast. We like it with pita or as a spread inside a sandwich wrap. I usually buy the Trader Joe’s Apocryphal Pita for dipping.

This recipe is for a basic traditional hummus using canned garbanzos, but I also included a variation starting from dried garbanzos. If you like to experiment, try this recipe with roasted garlic or peppers, dill, sun-dried tomatoes, or chopped calamata olives. Have fun with it, and let me know if you find any variations that you really like.

[Updated August 31, 2009]

HUMMUS BI TAHINI

Equipment

food mill
food processor with blade attachment

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce/425 g) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup (80 ml) sesame tahini (I’m partial to Ziyad Brand, but any Lebanese tahini will do.)
1/2 cup (120 ml) lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
sea salt, to taste
chopped parsley (for garnish)
1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil (for garnish)
paprika (for garnish)

Preparation

1. Press beans through the food mill to remove the skins. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil as necessary to fully remove the skins.

2. Pour the beans into the bowl of the food processor. Add tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. Process on low until thick and smooth, drizzling the olive oil in slowly. Adjust flavor with additional lemon juice as desired. Add salt to taste and finish processing.

3. Spread into a shallow serving dish. Garnish with a swirl of olive oil, parsley, and a sprinkle of paprika.

Variations

Use dried garbanzo beans instead of canned. Rinse 1 cup of dried beans until the water runs clean. Pour beans into a pot and add 3 cups of water. Soak for 12 hours, then drain. Draw fresh water and bring to a boil then add the beans, cooking until tender. Drain and continue as above.

Resources

Wikipedia – Hummus

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This is wonderful Middle Eastern comfort food with many variations depending on how the family fixes it. Some recipes call for more lentils than rice or vice versa. Some recipes call for the onions to be chopped, and others cook the lentils and rice separately. Personally, I love the nutty flavor that you get from sauteeing the rice and lentils.

Equipment

6 quart pot with heavy bottom
sharp knife
water kettle or hot pot or other means of boiling water

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced into thin rings
1/2 cup lentils, brown or green
2 cups aromatic long grain rice, such as basmati
4 cups boiling water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

1. Pick through the lentils, removing any stones or discolored seeds. Rinse well and drain thoroughly.

2. Rinse the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear. Drain thoroughly.

3. In the 6 quart pot, saute the onions in the olive oil until the onions are translucent and have a few flecks of brown.

4. Add the rice and lentils and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.

5. Add the water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover pot and simmer for 45 minutes.

6. Remove pan from heat and remove lid. Place two paper towels over the rim of the pan and replace lid. Allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

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Source: from a fellow Aramcon in Saudi Arabia, can’t remember who

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