Roasted Eggplant Dip with Lots of Herbs

Buying eggplants without a plan can be tough. I sometimes think I want to eat eggplant, then I purchase it and ignore said eggplant for as long as I possibly can before it rots. Luckily, a raw eggplant can last a decently long time, especially if you store it out of the fridge somewhere cool and dark. And it will last even longer once you cook it and put it in the fridge and continue to ignore it. That’s the beauty of just Getting Things Cooked - whether you steam, boil, fry or just shove it in the oven (my personal favorite way to deal with things), you automatically extend the clock on your soon-to-go-bad food for another few days.

The above eggplant probably hung out in my kitchen for a good three weeks (~10 days raw in my pantry, ~10 days cooked in the fridge - I know, I was surprised too!) before I figured out what to do with it, which is toss in olive oil and vinegar and a bunch of fresh herbs and smear it on toasted bread with goat cheese. Turns out a lot of vegetables can be dealt with in that exact fashion! I was slightly worried I’d open up the container and find it moldy, but it was completely fine (always a nice surprise!), and it turned out fantastically. You should feel free to riff according to your taste, but I’ve written up a recipe below inspired by the Herby Eggplant Dip from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook, Cravings All Together.

I happened to be browsing that book at the same time as Eden Grinshpan’s Eating Out Loud, which happens to have a very cool use-it-up trick for eggplant skins! You take the super-flavorful blackened skins from cooking an eggplant (ideally over an open flame, but I do not always have the energy for that move) and make a charred tahini sauce. Basically you blend the charred eggplant skins with an equal amount of tahini and half as much ice water and then minced garlic, fresh lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. So let’s say your one eggplant left you with 1/2 a cup of eggplant skin, you would combine that with 1/2 a cup of tahini and 1/4 cup ice water and blend. I’d probably toss in 1 garlic clove, 1 squeeze of lemon, a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper from there. Pretty cool, right?

So now you have yourself a tasty eggplant skin dip/sauce, which is good straight on a Ritz cracker, but would probably also be delicious over rice, pasta, polenta, etc. And then you also have an herby, tangy, sweet-and-salty cooked eggplant, which could also be a dip or a sauce or anything you like. My personal recommendation: get some great bread and an excellent soft goat cheese, and shower it all with even more fresh herbs. Eat and enjoy!

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Roasted Eggplant with Lots of Herbs

Author: Food Waste Feast

No idea what to do with that eggplant? Roast it up, dress it lightly, add lots of herbs, and eat it however you like. This very flexible 'recipe' scales well - double it if you have two large eggplants, cut down on the sauce ingredients if you only have a tiny eggplant. You can also cook the eggplant any way you like - I find roasting the easiest, but you do you.

Ingredients

• 1 large globe eggplant
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon vinegar of your choice
• Small splash of sweetener of your choice, like honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 cup chopped tender fresh herbs of your choice, such as basil, cilantro, mint, parsley, scallions, chives - a mix or all one kind, whatever you've got
• Kosher salt for seasoning
• Good bread and soft cheese, for serving (optional but highly recommended)

Instructions

Roast the eggplant

1. Crank the oven to 500 degrees.
2. Line a tray with foil to save yourself some cleanup.
3. Prick the eggplant all over, both to let moisture out and to avoid any possible eggplant explosions.
4. Roast, turning the eggplant every so often, until it's slightly collapsed and offers no resistance when poked with a sharp knife, about 40 minutes.
5. Let cool slightly, then trim off the tops and put the eggplant into a colander to drain.
6. Remove the skins and use them for the above tahini sauce! Chop up the eggplant flesh and combine with the olive oil, vinegar, sweetener, herbs, and a pinch of salt.
7. Stir to combine, taste, and adjust with more sweetener, vinegar, or salt as needed.
8. Scoop onto good bread smeared with soft cheese, or dip crackers or chips into it, or just eat it with a spoon!