Baba Ganoush

Colorful Carrots are Delightfully Dipable

Recipe by Robin

About 25 years ago, my friend Bee turned me on to Baba Ganoush, the Middle Eastern eggplant dip that he calls Eggplant Baba. He uses just grilled eggplant, cumin powder, cayenne, garlic, salt, and “lotsa olive oil.” Since I can’t recreate his delicious concoction of just 6 ingredients, I’ve added the traditional lemon juice, tahini, and white pepper.  The key to authentic flavor is grilling the eggplant slowly till the skin is charred and insides are soft. I use a Weber grill for added charcoal flavor. Bee uses a hibachi, and also suggests grilling under a broiler or over a flame burner if it’s not barbecue weather.

Ratatouille

Lunch, Dinner, Main Dish, or Side Dish

Recipe by Robin

A few years back, our CSA went a bit crazy with eggplant. Italian eggplant, Japanese eggplant, large eggplant, small eggplant, our farm share was loaded with these every week throughout the summer. Unfortunately, my husband Bruce hated eggplant: its puffy yet squishy texture, its bitterness, even the mere idea of eggplant. Luckily, during those same summer weeks we received plenty of tomatoes and peppers from our CSA, and a mondo load of zucchini from our neighbor Dana. I started making huge batches of ratatouille, which is basically a sauté of these four veggies along with onions and garlic. At first I chopped the eggplant finer than the other veggies, thinking that Bruce would notice it less and be more likely to enjoy the dish. This strategy worked beautifully, and throughout the summer I increased the size of the eggplant pieces. Ratatouille became a favorite dinner for both of us. Especially since it’s filling and my recipe is very low in calories.

Grilled Vegetables & Grilled Peaches

Fill Up the Grill

Recipe by Bruce

It’s almost Labor Day. I know, I know, end of summer is coming too soon, just like last year. But we have one more holiday, and several more grill-friendly weekends before we need to winterize the BBQ. Late summer produce is cheap and plentiful…so let’s get grillin’…veggies! All types of summer squash, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, and onions are classics. Peaches make a yummy dessert at barbecues, with or without vanilla ice cream. Grilled corn is delicious, but remember that it’s typically genetically engineered (a GMO) when grown commercially. GMOs have not been well tested for safety. Buy corn from your local farmer or organic market if you don’t grow it in your backyard.