The Perks of Being Friends with Gardeners: Part 1

I am very excited to write this post. My co-worker, Brandon, was kind enough to leave 2 eggplants and a watermelon on my desk one morning. He knows all about my cooking blog, and I told him if he gave me the produce, that I would make a blog post in honor of them. Here we go....
I used Ina Garten's recipe for Roasted Eggplant Caponata. It's meant to be eaten with pita chips, and I don't think anything else could really do. I used Balsamic vinegar instead of red wine, because I generally don't like red wine vinegar at all. However, I think Balsamic was a little too "heavy" for the dip as a whole.

I would certainly use this dip if I was serving any vegan friends. There aren't a lot of dips for them besides hummus---and it is much tastier than hummus. I would also serve this at an elegant get together, or a party for a bunch of hard-core foodies.

 I would maybe not make it for people who really like American food only, or don't really like to eat new things, or are really picky eaters. I have to say that Nick didn't really like this, but I thought it was a good dip. It was also a little expensive, so you don't want to waste it by serving it to people who won't fully appreciate it.

1 large eggplant (1 1/2 pounds)

Good olive oil

4 ounces jarred roasted red peppers, chopped

1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and chopped

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

3 tablespoons minced parsley

2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons drained capers

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Toasted pita triangles, for serving

 

 

1) Roast your beautiful eggplant at 400 degrees. Prick the eggplant with a fork all the way around and slather with olive oil. After 40-50 minutes it should look like this...

 

 

 

 

 

2)...Beautiful! It will be very hot so let it cool and then get rid of the skin.

 

 

3) Put all of the ingredients in a food processor until it looks like this:

 

 



 

 

4) If you want to make pita chips, just cut up some pita bread into 4ths. Brush some olive oil and sprinkle any herbs or seasonings that you want (garlic salt, oregano, parsley, etc). Bake in an over for 10 minutes at 375.

 

Voila!

 

 

 

 

You can also serve with a side of watermelon.

 

 

Tomorrow I will show you what I did with the other eggplant, and on Monday I will post the final post for "Mothers and Grandmothers."