Baba ghanoush, a healthy and delicious snack

Here’s another recipe that’s low calorie and high in fiber and most importantly, tastes good.  It’s made primarily from roasted eggplants.  If you think you don’t like eggplant, think again.  Something magic happens after you roast them and they just taste like mmm mmm good.

Baba Ganoush is a very popular Middle Eastern dish made primarily of eggplant and tahini, a paste made from sesame seeds.

I like to eat it with pieces of toasted whole wheat pita bread or for an even lower calorie option, these Wasa Crispbreads.

Ingredients

• 3 medium eggplants
• 1/2 cup tahini (roasted sesame paste) – you can find this either by the peanut butter or in the “ethnic” section of the grocery store.
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
• 1/8 teaspoon chile powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).
2. Prick each eggplant a few times, then char the outside of the eggplants by placing them directly on the flame of a gas burner and as the skin chars, turn them until the eggplants are uniformly-charred on the outside.  For a super smoky flavor, do this for 15 minutes. (If you don’t have a gas stove, you can char them under the broiler.) Note: I like my baba ghanoush REALLY smoky (extra flavor with no added calories), but if you want to tone it down, then reduce the time that you cook the eggplants over the open flame.
3. Place the eggplants on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, until they’re completely soft; you should be able to easily poke a paring knife into them and meet no resistance.
4. Remove from oven, slice lengthwise,  and let cool for 10-15 minutes.
5. Open the eggplant and scrape out the pulp using a spoon, being careful to not get any skin.
6. Puree the pulp in a blender or food processor with the other ingredients until smooth.
7. Taste, and season with additional salt and lemon juice, if necessary. Chill for a few hours before serving.

You can store it in your fridge for about a week, it gets even better with time.

Nutrition

A serving of 4 tablespoons (I dare you to eat just 4!) has only 70 calories, 5 carbs, and 5 grams of fat. Eggplant is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin K, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber.