Baba Ghanoush

Baba Ghanoush

Prep Time: 15 Minutes • Start to Finish: 1 Hour 5 Minutes • Makes 8 servings (¼ cup dip, ⅓ cup pita chips and ¼ cup veggies each)

1 Heat oven to 425°F. Line 1 cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper. Have second cookie sheet ready without parchment.

2 Rub flesh of eggplant with 1 tablespoon of the oil and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Toss chickpeas with remaining oil and salt. Spread in single layer on other cookie sheet.

3 Roast eggplant and chickpeas 20 minutes; toss chickpeas, and roast all 10 minutes longer. Remove chickpeas from oven to cool, but continue to cook eggplant 15 to 20 minutes longer or until flesh has dark charred appearance.

4 Allow eggplant to cool slightly, then scrape out flesh and transfer to blender. Add chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, tahini and black pepper. Cover; blend until mostly smooth, and transfer to small bowl. Sprinkle with paprika. Serve with toasted pita triangles, bell pepper strips and celery sticks

1 Serving: Calories 170 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 310mg; Total Carbohydrate 23g (Dietary Fiber 5g); Protein 6g Exchanges: ½ Starch, ½ Other Carbohydrate, 1 Vegetable, ½ Very Lean Meat, 1½ Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1½

Tips If you notice your chickpeas have dried out considerably when you take them out to move them around at the 20-minute mark, go ahead and take them out of the oven then. Different brands of chickpeas vary in size, and smaller ones dry out faster.
Sesame tahini paste is available in most large supermarkets in the ethnic foods aisle. To accent the tahini flavor, sprinkle toasted sesame seed on top of the dip along with the smoked paprika.