I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 11 years old, and if there’s one thing that can really make a difference in any meal it’s a good dip or spread. You can change up flavours and textures so easily and they are generally easy to make.

Baba ganoush is something that I’ve only just recently started liking, and it’s a thousand times better when it’s homemade. I used the very last of my white eggplant from the summer, roasted it and mashed it up with all the yummy ingredients listed below.

You can eat this with pita bread, nachos, sandwiches, veggies, crackers and whatever else you can find to spread stuff on.

Side note: I was snorkelling up at my cottage one time and found a freshwater snail that I decided to keep as a pet in a fish tank. I named it Baba Ganoush and kept it for a short period of time until I felt guilty and put it back.

Ingredients

• 2 white eggplants (not necessary, you can use regular eggplant)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil (plus a little for roasting the eggplant)
• 3 tbsp. sesame tahini
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2-3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste
• Fresh parsley to garnish, chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place eggplants on a baking sheet, poke a few holes in them with a fork and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on how big your eggplants are) until soft. My eggplant turned a brown-ish colour which worried me a bit but don’t worry because it all looks and tastes good once you’re done!

Let the eggplant cool and scrape out all of the insides, seeds included, onto a cutting board. Discard the skin of the eggplant, and cut up the rest with a large knife. I tried mashing mine with a fork first but I found cutting it up from the start worked much better. At this point the eggplant should be mainly smooth with some small chunks and seeds.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the eggplant, garlic and olive oil and mix very well with a fork. Then add the tahini, lemon, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt.

Season with fresh parsley and serve with anything dippable (if that’s not a word, it is now) or foods that can use a good spread. Eat up!