This baba ganoush recipe is from the Moosewood Cookbook written by Mollie Katzen. The Moosewood Cookbook and its sequel The Enchanted Broccoli Forest were my cooking bibles in the 1980s and 1990s. Mollie Katzen has written eleven vegetarian cookbooks and she knows how to make vegetables taste delicious.

According to Wikipedia, baba ganoush is an Arabic word, which translates to “pampered papa”. Perhaps baba ganoush is the perfect appetizer to make for Father’s Day.

The eggplant is a luxurious, rich nightshade vegetable which some people need to avoid. If you can eat eggplants, you will benefit from their high amount of antioxidants.

Tahini, a seed butter made from hulled sesame seeds, adds a smoothness to the recipe. Sesame seeds are a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, copper and manganese. According to the USDA, sesame seeds are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, with a total of 21.8 grams per 100 grams, most of it in omega-6 fat. On the paleo diet, only 6-8 grams of omega-6 fat is recommended per day, and this recipe is 118 grams of omega-6s. If you are following a strict paleo diet because of autoimmune issues, just skip this recipe.

Baba Ganoush is easy to mix up but you need to roast the eggplant ahead of time.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup of tahini
4 cloves of garlic
Optional:
handful of parsley
salt
scallions
2 tablespoons of olive oil
black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prick the eggplants with a fork several times. Place on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the eggplant. You want the eggplant skin to be starting to turn black and the eggplant to have collapsed. Remove and let cool. I usually roast the eggplant the night before.

Mix the ingredients in a food processor or alternately mash the ingredients together with a fork. The eggplant sauce should be creamy. Serve the baba ganoush on gluten-free rice crackers, or cut-up vegetables such as red pepper, cucumber and jicama.