Pack-a-Snack #104

Pretzel sticks and homemade baba ganoush based on the Minimalist Baker recipe.

I had about 1/3 of a large eggplant left over from making a stew you'll see shortly, and I have always loved baba ganoush, but pretty well every recipe wants you to start roasting a whole eggplant--not dealing with already-peeled cubed eggplant. The Minimalist Baker had sliced eggplant to work with so I took the plunge and made this with mine. It was fantastic! It was thicker than it would typically be, I think because cutting the eggplant meant it became a lot more dry in the oven, but it was a more concentrated flavor in some ways.

I remain convinced I don't eat enough eggplant as a vegan--I mean, we're supposed to be fed a steady diet of eggplant, cauliflower, and tofu, right? And I eat those things but not that much--and this inspires me to not fear having some random eggplant around, so I think I'll go for it more often.

Maybe I really just love tahini--I think that's the reason I love hummus and baba ganoush--but that's good, too, right?

Pretzel sticks aren't the thing I would normally go for with this but right now I'm emphasizing a "use what you've got" approach to food. It's full of both good and not-so-good surprises, but this was a good surprise. Pretzels and baba ganoush are good friends.