Roasted Garlic Baba Ganoush

I'm a dips and spreads kinda gal - I like to have something I can dunk into, smear over, or spoon onto whatever delicious morsel I'm about to consume. If there's a way I can incorporate roasted garlic into said dip/spread, even better. If you're reading this and thing, Me toooo!, then read on my friend, it only gets better.  This recipe is great to have on deck for a dinner party or backyard barbeque for a few reasons: it can be made the day before so all you have to do to get it ready is remove it from the fridge. It also goes great with pretty much anything - dip veggies in it, spread it on a burger, smear it on grilled pork chops, pop it in a veggie wrap, dollop it next to chorizo sausage, serve it with roasted veggies or herby quinoa... really. I could go on and on.  The lemony pop that it brings keeps it light and fresh tasting, and it pairs well with richer foods like the aforementioned sausage or burgers.

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• Juice from one medium lemon
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 3 bulbs garlic
• Olive oil, about 1 tablespoon

Directions:

Roasted Eggplant & Mixing Bowl:

1. Set your oven to max broil (mine is 525 F). Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil and lightly greasing it. Set aside. 
2. Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch thick rounds, and lay it them on the baking sheet. Broil for 20 minutes or until rounds are a deep golden color, flipping every 5 minutes. 
3. While your eggplant is roasting you can mix the tahini, lemon juice, and scallion in a medium bowl. If you have a food processor, place these ingredients in there instead! I have an immersion blender so a bowl is where I'll be headed.
4. When the eggplant is done roasting, remove it from the oven. Carefully lift opposite ends of the foil together and crimp them together (the eggplant will slide around, just be sure it stays on the foil). Bring the other ends in and crimp the foil packet closed to trap the moisture as the eggplant cools. Let it rest for about 20 minutes. You can start on the Roasted Garlic at this time.
5. After the eggplant has cooled you can unwrap the eggplant from the foil packet, then gently peel back the skin from each round and add the eggplant to your tahini mix. The eggplant should fall away from the skin quite easily at this point so don't be afraid of this step - it's quite fun! Set the bowl aside to wait for the roasted garlic.

Roasted Garlic & Finishing up: 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice the top 1/4 inch off the top of each garlic bulb, then place the bulbs together on a sheet of foil large enough to wrap around them (roughly the same size as a sheet of paper). Drizzle the bulbs with olive oil, then wrap the foil around them bulbs snugly (like a Tootsie Roll). Place the garlic pack in the middle of the oven and roast for 45-60 min. I like to check my garlic at the 45 minute mark, and if the bulbs are not golden and almost popping out of their little pods then I put it back in for 15 minutes more. 
2. Once the garlic has roasted remove it from the oven and let it rest for about 15-20 minutes. Once it has cooled you can unwrap the bulbs and use a knife to pop out each head into your eggplant mixture.
3. Use your immersion blender or food processor to puree the ingredients together until it is a smooth consistency. Or if you're feeling wild, you can use a fork and mash roughly here and there for a chunky baba ganoush (this works best when you're using this as a side rather than a dip).  You're done! Enjoy!

I like to prep this a day in advance so the flavors have time to mingle, so at this stage I would put it in a sealed container in the fridge until I was about 15 minutes away from serving. It's also delicious warm! So do whatever the heck you want and eat it however the heck you want. Get it girl. 

Nutty Granola

I took some time away from posting recipes over the holidays in order to focus my attention on friends and family, which left me without anything new to post this month -- until now! I like to have some variation of oats for breakfast each day, and this is one that has made repeat appearances for some time. I like to make my own granola so I can control what goes into it and even more specifically the ratio of ingredients, and this granola is all about the nuts. Yes, all about nuts.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup mixed nuts, roughly chopped (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts - any nuts you want!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Mix all ingredients except the nuts in a bowl, then spread evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until oats are lightly golden, stirring halfway through. 
3. Let the granola mix cool for 10 minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a bowl and mix in the nuts. Once granola is completely cool package it up into jars or portioned tupperware. 

You can eat the granola as is, or with a splash of milk (I'm partial to almond milk). You can add in berries or dried fruit, sprinkle in chia seeds with the milk, make it your own.