A Love Affair w/ Eggplant

After my trip to the Yiasou Greek Festival last weekend I was inspired to hit the kitchen. Or perhaps the guilt from not taking time to update my blog was a bit of added motivation as well. I fell in love with this simple and full of flavor dish at a cute little Greek Café my friends and I frequent for late night dinners. This dish also highlights my current love affair with Eggplant. While Eggplant is my favorite color; I never tried cooking with it until of late. Well, there you have it! Let’s make some Melitzanosalata!

This recipe is {GF} + {V}  + {Veg} + {DF} + {HE} friendly

SHOPPING LIST:

• 2~ medium sized eggplants
• 5~ cloves of roasted garlic
• 1~red onion
• 1~ lemon
• 1/4c.~Italian parsley chopped
• olive oil
• sea salt, ground pepper & crushed red pepper

LET’S GET STARTED:

Start with preheating the oven to 400. Pierce several holes with a fork into the two eggplants and place in preheated oven on baking sheet. Bake in oven until soft and tender (about 40min). Pull out of oven and let cool. NOTE: If eggplants are not roasting as desired, cut in half and brush with olive oil and continue to bake. Option II: Slice eggplant, brush with olive oil and dust with sea salt and cracked pepper and grill on med-high heat until tender (grilled option will give a more roasted flavor to the dish).

While eggplant is roasting…

Cut red onions into slices and sprinkle with a little olive oil and sea salt. Place on a baking sheet and roast with eggplants for about 20min or until roasted.

Toss peeled garlic cloves with olive oil and wrap in parchment roast in the oven (on the pan with onions) until golden brown.

After eggplants (drain off excess juice), onion and garlic cloves are roasted and cooled; add to food processor with the juice of one lemon, sea salt and black pepper to taste. NOTE: if puree seems too dry…pulse in a teaspoon of olive oil until desired constancy.

Add pureed mixture to a bowl and stir in finely chopped parsley and crushed red pepper to taste.

Add to a decorative bowl and serve with fresh cucumber slices and your favorite carb (crackers, {GF} rice crackers, toasted pita, pita chips, toasted baguette) and ENJOY!

KEY:

{GF} = Gluten Free

{V} = Vegan

{Veg} = Vegetarian

{DF} = Dairy Free

{ML} = Meat Lovers

{HE} = Healthy Eating

{<3} = My Faves