{"id":10567,"date":"2013-03-22T00:30:11","date_gmt":"2013-03-22T04:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=10567"},"modified":"2013-03-22T00:48:12","modified_gmt":"2013-03-22T04:48:12","slug":"at-home-with-gch-eggplant-dip-baba-ghanouj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/03\/22\/at-home-with-gch-eggplant-dip-baba-ghanouj\/","title":{"rendered":"At Home with GCH:  Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghanouj)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Baba-Ghanouj-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-10568\" alt=\"Baba Ghanouj  2\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Baba-Ghanouj-2-300x199.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While I am a huge fan of french onion dip &#8211; you know, the kind made with a tub of sour cream and a packet of french onion soup &#8211; I know it is not the healthiest for me. \u00a0I firmly believe that when it comes to your diet, you should eat as well as possible, load up on veggies and lean protein, and avoid processed foods. That said, you gotta enjoy life, and I think it&#8217;s okay to have a treat every once in a while. \u00a0The problem is when &#8220;every once in a while&#8221; turns into &#8220;I deserve it now&#8221; which eventually becomes an everyday habit. \u00a0I speak from experience! \u00a0So one way I&#8217;ve found to subvert those cravings for treats is to find delicious alternatives that are nutritious as well. \u00a0Move over potato chips and french onion dip, here comes baba ghanouj!<\/p>\n<p>Baba ghanouj (pronounced &#8220;gah-noosh&#8221;) is a roasted eggplant dip. \u00a0You can usually find it alongside hummus and pita wedges in Middle Eastern restaurants. \u00a0The only ingredient you may not have on hand is tahini, which is sesame seed paste. \u00a0I can buy it in my regular Vons and, depending on how well-stocked your grocery store is, you can find it with the Indian\/Middle Eastern food, or with the Kosher foods. \u00a0It&#8217;s rich and creamy&#8212;almost like peanut butter made from sesame seeds. \u00a0It keeps well in the fridge, and I use it to make salad dressings, too (like this one for a <a href=\"http:\/\/frugalgirlmet.blogspot.com\/2013\/01\/sesame-kale-salad.html\">kale salad<\/a>.) \u00a0This recipe also adds a roasted bell pepper. \u00a0It isn&#8217;t necessary, but \u00a0it adds another layer of smoky sweetness that I really enjoy. \u00a0Ready? \u00a0Let&#8217;s get dipping!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Baba-Ghanouj_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10569\" alt=\"Baba Ghanouj_\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Baba-Ghanouj_-300x199.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Baba-Ghanouj_-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Baba-Ghanouj_-1024x681.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghanouj)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ingredients:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"line-height: 13px\">3 Japanese eggplants, or one very large regular eggplant<\/span><\/li>\n<li>1 tablespoon olive oil<\/li>\n<li>2 cloves garlic<\/li>\n<li>2-3 tablespoons tahini (I like to add a lot!)<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 lemon, juiced<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon ground toasted cumin<\/li>\n<li>salt and pepper<\/li>\n<li>1 roasted bell pepper \u00a0(Trader Joe&#8217;s has some great ones in a jar)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Directions:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"line-height: 13px\">Preheat the oven to 400*F. \u00a0Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. \u00a0Poke some holes in the eggplant with a fork or knife and drizzle with the oil. \u00a0Bake for 30 minutes. \u00a0Turn off the heat and let sit in the oven for 30 minutes to cool.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, slit it open and scoop out all the insides. \u00a0Transfer the eggplant to the bowl of a food processor. \u00a0Add the remaining ingredients and blend together. \u00a0Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>I serve this with veggie sticks. \u00a0The kids like pita bread, Wheat Thins, and any other cracker or pretzel I give them!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Explore, experiment, enjoy!<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Dana<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>To view even more of Dana\u2019s unique recipes, you can visit her at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/frugalgirlmet.blogspot.com\/\">Frugal Girlmet<\/a>!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p>If you would like to contact Dana in regards to this blog, please email her at\u00a0<strong>Dana@girlfriendscoffeehour.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While I am a huge fan of french onion dip &#8211; you know, the kind made with a tub of sour cream and a packet of french onion soup &#8211; I know it is not the healthiest for me. \u00a0I firmly believe that when it comes to your diet, you should eat as well as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":10568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[1648,9296,279,1649,2079,398,425,2080,1030,1100],"class_list":["post-10567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-at-home-with-gch","tag-appetizers","tag-at-home-with-gch","tag-dana-kim","tag-dips","tag-eggplant","tag-frugal-girlmet","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-middle-eastern-cuisine","tag-tahini","tag-vegetables","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Baba-Ghanouj-2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-2Kr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10567"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10572,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10567\/revisions\/10572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}