Eggplant Dip

Eggplant Dip

At the farmer’s market this Saturday, they had a lot of eggplant.  I have never cooked eggplant before and I have rarely eaten it.  I could not pass up the opportunity to learn something new, so I bought two good looking eggplants for a dollar.  My husband looked up several recipes for eggplant dishes, and I decided that my first attempt would be for a dip/sandwich spread.  I based my dip on a recipe from Ina Garten, but, of course, I could not stick to the recipe.  I started by dicing one eggplant, slicing two red onions, and marinating both in a tad bit of olive oil along with salt and pepper. After roasting the eggplant and onion at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, I added some cloves of garlic and fresh Cheyenne peppers to the mixture.  I roasted the veggies for 15 more minutes and put them aside to cool.  Next, I used the food processor to transform the roasted veggies into a dip.  The dip was quite think, so I added some Kalamata olive juice.  I completed omitted the tomato paste and red bell peppers that Ina used, because I did not have them on hand.  I added some lemon juice to the dip and put it in the fridge to cool.  It turned out great!

I served it with cucumbers and Stacy’s pita chips.  I will definitely make this again.