Delicious Eggplant Dip!
After searching for and applying to a few jobs, I realized I was starving. I went into the kitchen to make some scrambled egg whites (skim milk and egg whites + fat-free non-stick spray into the pan = lots o’ protein….and I’m full!). While in the fridge, I saw the sad eggplant that I bought about a week ago. I’m a big believer in using veggies before they go bad, because they cost so much and because when don’t you need more veggies?!
So…while my eggs were cooking, I preset the oven to 350 degrees. It’s just my default if I’m not following a recipe. Then I cut off the leafy tip to my large Italian eggplant and then cut it in half. I put it cut-side down a baking sheet covered in foil, drizzled a little olive oil over top and threw on a sprinkle of kosher salt. I popped that in the oven, plated my eggs and some leftover broccoli from last night and sat down to eat and look at eggplant recipes. The one I settled on was an app, because one Italian eggplant doesn’t provide all that much meat, and I chose it because the ingredients sounded sort of like the contents of my refrigerator. You can find the recipe here:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_eggplant_feta_dip.html
I glanced through the recipe and then decided to do my own version. After baking for about 45 minutes, I pulled the eggplant out of the oven and scraped the meat out of the skin into a bowl with a fork. The recipe I read called for feta, but I only had herbed chevre in my cheese drawer. Close enough! I had about 2-3oz, so I dumped it all into the eggplant and whipped that up with a fork. THe recipe suggested a food processor, but mine is in the top of my closet, very precariously balanced amongst other items like wrapping paper, paper bags, old financial documents…not something I wanted to battle with in the middle of a sunny day. So, I used my trusty fork. After whipping in the cheese, I added the juice of half a lemon, whipped a bit more, and then tasted. DELICIOUS! I actually said that out loud…to my dog, of course, not talking to myself! So good. I decided to sprinkle on a little bit of cayenne, white pepper and a touch of kosher salt, and a little drizzle of olive oil to smooth things over. Whipped all of that together and tasted again…very good! I’m so amazed at how quickly I put something like this together, and now I have an appetizer for when my husband comes home from work! Sure it might be more tasty if I added some fresh basil and parsley as the recipe called for, but I don’t have any at the moment. In fact, I should work on my “herb garden” planters right now, so next time I want to whip something up, I’ll have fresh herbs on hand! Yum.
