Babababa Baba Ganoush

A dip for vegetarians/vegans. The outstanding taste of the char-grilled eggplant mix with some other herb and spices, and also the smooth texture make it one of the best dip to snack on. Best eaten with warm toasted pita bread or foccacia bun. Try it! You'll love it although if you are not vegetarian/vegan. Because I am not.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants
1 tablespoon tahini (or more as needed)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
A pinch of ground cumin
1/4 cup of lemon juice (or more as needed)
Salt & black pepper to taste
2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1/4 cup of black olives, sliced


Methods:

1) Prick the eggplants with a fork in several places and place on the fire or grill rack. Grill, turning frequently until the skin blackens and the flesh just begins to soft. Around 10-20minutes. Let it cool slightly and peel off and discard the skin.

2) Place the eggplants flesh in a bowl and mash the eggplant to a paste by using a fork.

3) Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and cumin. Mix well. Season with salt & black pepper. You may add more tahini and/or lemon juice, if needed. Up to your taste!

4) Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl or individual small serving plate with the back of a spoon to form a shallow well. Drizzle olive oil over the top and garnish with the chopped parsley and chopped olive.

Olive & Mushroom Tapenade

Olive & mushroom tapenade taste a lil bit weird at first if you eat just like that so I add some variation on how to eat this beautiful dip from Morocco (see notes below).

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of butter
500g mixed thinly sliced white button mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 small handful of black olives
Olive oil
A few of fresh basil/sage leaves
Salt & black pepper to taste


Methods:

1) Lightly saute the garlic & mushrooms in the butter until they sweat. Allow to cool briefly.

2) Pour mixture into a food processor and pulse just for a while, let say 5 seconds.

3) Add the a little salt, basil/sage leaves and a little olive oil. Pulse for few seconds. Check the texture. I prefer it rough with visible mushroom chunks in it.

4) Transfer to serving bowl or individual small serving plates.

Notes: Taste much nicer if served straight away while it still a little bit warm with toasted pita bread and some roasted garlic and/or grilled vegetables i.e eggplant, courgette, etc. with a lil dip of olive oil and balsamic.

Speedy Hummus

I am not a fan of any Mediterranean food. Might it be a starter or main course or dessert. Nope. But I started to like hummus because it is light, flavorful, easy and best to serve with toasted pita bread. And it doesn't took me second try to master it.

Ingredients:

2 clove garlic
1 can of chick peas, half the liquid reserved
1-2 tablespoon of lemon juice (or up to your taste)
1 tablespoon of tahini
Salt & black pepper to taste
1/4 cup of olive oil
Garnishing: Paprika powder, chick peas, olive oil & chopped parsley

Methods: 

1) In a food processor, chop the garlic. 

2) Pour chick peas & the liquid into blender, reserving about a tablespoon for garnish. 

3) Place lemon juice, tahini, salt & pepper in the food processor together with the processed chick peas. 

4) Pour the olive oil and blend until creamy and well mixed. 

5) Transfer the mixture to a medium serving bowl or individual serving small plate. Garnish.