Baba Ghanoush: An Appetizing Appetizer

Baba Ghanoush: An Appetizing Appetizer

The culinary world is as diverse and unique as the nations where the dishes originate from. It carries the traditions and flavors from various places and puts it conveniently on a plate. Delicacies from the Middle East, such as  tahini, tabouli, and hummus, are some of the most interesting ones. Today, we’ll talk about yet another Levantine dish – baba ghanoush, an appetizing appetizer.

What is Baba Ghanoush?

Baba ghanoush, also known as baba ghanouj or baba ganoush, is taking both fine dining and home settings by storm. It is widely recognized as a dish mainly made of mashed, cooked eggplant combined with several seasonings, tahini, and olive oil.

Baba ghanoush is a delicacy that has a distinct smoky taste. The ideal serving of this dish is as a cold or room temperature spread and it goes incredibly well with pita bread. Although, some enjoy it on it’s own, and that’s absolutely fine!

How to Prepare Baba Ghanoush at Home

You don’t have to go to a restaurant or visit the grocery in order to enjoy a piece of heaven that is baba ghanoush. You just need a few ingredients and you can easily whip up this Levantine dish at home! This includes the following:

– One large eggplant

– Garlic cloves

– Pinch ground cumin

– Olive oil

– Brine-cured black olives

– Tahini

– Fresh lemon juice

– Flat-leaf parsley

– Salt to taste

Baba Ghanoush and Veggies - For the Love of HummusAs far as cooking necessities, begin preparing a charcoal grill and an oven. The first step is to grill the eggplant until the outer skin turns black and you see a soft flesh, which is usually done within 10 to 15 minutes. After which, bake it in the oven for around 15-20 minutes until very soft.

Once that’s done, allow the eggplant to cool a bit and then peel the skin. Mash the eggplant in a bowl and then mix the other ingredients together, with variations in salt, lemon juice, and tahini according to your taste. Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle some parsley, put some olives on the sides for presentation, and voila! Enjoy!

The Battle Between Baba Ghanoush and Hummus

As far as nutritional value is concerned, baba ghanoush and hummus are often compared with each other. So which one is better? It really depends on what you need.

When talking about similarities, both hummus and baba ghanoush have no cholesterol content. As a matter of fact, they both contain unsaturated fats, which are instrumental to cardiovascular health through low cholesterol levels and decreased inflammation.

When talking about differences, baba ghanoush has more potassium content, which is essential to regular heartbeat and optimal nerve and muscle function. On the other hand, hummus has more B-vitamin content for energy and lesser risks of cardiovascular problems. Either way, both are good for you.

So, ready to whip up a healthy dish of baba ghanoush? You know you want to try it!

Baba Ghanoush - An Appetizing Appetizer - For the Love of Hummus

Banana Hummus Recipe

Banana Hummus Recipe

This Banana Hummus recipe is perfect for banana lovers everywhere. You just need to combine ripe banana with your traditional hummus mixture to give it a delicious and unique flavour. Aside from banana other fruits like avocado and strawberry are also used as a hummus ingredient. You can mix it up depending on who is going to eat it. Kids seem to love the banana hummus taste and it lends itself well to nutella and crackers. Just sayin.

About this Banana Hummus Recipe

For this recipe, you will really only spend 1-2 minutes to prepare this hummus variation. It usually takes around 5 minutes in the food processor and it can be served to 12 people. How amazing is that? So to make a yummy and sweet hummus dip for your loved ones. You can use bananas that are ripe and/or spotty. Bananas at this stage are really good for you and are usually wasted in banana bread which cooks the banana, making it lose a lot of it’s nutrients. Using it in a hummus is essentially eating it raw, maintaining all of the best things from the banana.

Ingredients: banana hummus recipe

Mashed ripe banana
1 can garbanzo beans or chickpeas
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
0.5 tsp cinnamon
0.25 tsp each cumin and chili powder
A dash each of ground cloves, ginger, and nutmeg
Water as needed

Method:

  1. Rinse and drain garbanzo beans or chickpeas.
  2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor.
  3. Blend until the mixture becomes smooth, adding water to achieve the desired consistency and removing excess as needed.

This banana hummus recipe is truly as easy as 1 2 3 to prepare. Now you can use it as a spread and share it with your neighbors or for a quick solution when company arrives. They will definitely ask you for the recipe.

Banana-Hummus-Recipe For the Love of Hummus

Roasted Carrot Hummus Recipe

Roasted Carrot Hummus Recipe

The Roasted Carrot Hummus recipe is going to change your perception of hummus forever. When we talk about hummus, often times people just assume you can only eat it plain. This is so far from the truth and the basic hummus recipe can be varied in so many ways its not funny.

Hummus is easy to make, and everybody loves it. Adding roasted carrot to your hummus can give it an unusual kick not to mention a bright, orange colour. Add Roasted Carrot Hummus immediately to your must try list of hummus recipes.

Behold the roasted carrot hummus recipe.

roasted carrot hummus

 

Ingredients:

400 grams of carrots
½ x 400 grams tin of chickpeas
1 clove of garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons tahini
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
juice of ½ a lemon
a pinch of salt
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200° C
  2. Cut the carrots into bite size pieces at any shape. Place them in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
  3. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
  4. Fine chop the garlic.
  5. Add all the ingredients into the food processor.
  6. Pulse to mix the ingredients well.
  7. Add salt and pepper when needed.

Your roasted carrot recipe is now good to serve. Its perfect as a dip, sandwich spread and even goes well on your favorite salad as a dressing. Enjoy your hummus!

Roasted-Carrot-Hummus recipe