Roasted Eggplant Hummus

I buy hummus often because it makes for a great dip and sandwich spread and I don't always feel like lugging the food processor out, making it, cleaning it and then putting it away. When I just wrote that, I realize how lazy that makes me sound.... but really, it's stowed away in an annoying spot that I have to move things around to get to it because I have no counter space. This is my relationship with most of my kitchen. So anyway, in yet another box of fresh vegetables given to us(I love summer-and friends with gardens!) was a lone eggplant. Previously, I had seen eggplant hummus at the store. Then, the light bulb went off in my head: "I can make that!"

I forgot to take pictures at the beginning, so I have fewer than usual. I roasted the eggplant at 350°F (I rubbed it in oil first), until it looked like the skin was dry. I had it in corningware, so when it was finished I covered it for a few minutes to shrivel. Then I peeled it in the sink and this is how that looked.

Once it was peeled, I just added it to the food processor with a can of chick peas and sent it for a brief whirl before I did anything else

Then I added the juice of a lemon, peanut butter (Tahini tends to be really expensive and I don't use it often enough), garlic powder, water, olive oil, and salt and pepper

Roasted Eggplant Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 15.5 oz can garbanzo beans/chick peas
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp. peanut butter
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Coat eggplant in oil and roast in the oven at 350°F for about 2 hours.
2. When finished roasting, cover so it steams and shrivels the skin. Peel and add to a food processor along with a 15.5 can (drained and thoroughly rinsed) of garbanzo beans/chick peas. Process to break it down, but not puree yet.
3. Add lemon, peanut butter, water, garlic powder, oil, and salt and pepper (to your tastes) and process to puree. Can be served immediately at room temperature or cold.

©The Village Farmhouse | Amy Heck 2012. Please do not steal my images.