Awesome Baba Ganoush

Ingredients

• 1 medium whole eggplant
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 tbsp tahini
• Sea salt
• Olive oil
• Garnish - fresh scallion, parsley, sweet or hot peppers and sumac (if available)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and position the rack to the middle rung
2. Pierce eggplant with fork
3. Drizzle olive oil and sea salt over eggplant and bulb of garlic
4. Place whole eggplant and garlic in shallow pan and place into oven
5. Cook 45 minutes (or until it appears to start to collapse a little and renders some juice)
6. Remove pan from oven
7. Peel and remove stem and all skin from eggplant
8. Add juice from pan, 1 clove garlic, lemon juice, tahini, a pinch of salt to blender and pulse until smooth
9. Garnish with chopped scallion and parsley; thinly sliced ribbons of sweet or hot peppers and sumac 
10. Serve chilled or at room temperature with any entree, sandwich, veggies or chips; (especially good with fresh naan or pita bread)

Favorite Hummus

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups cooked garbanzo beans [hulls removed]
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sumac

In a blender, add 1 clove of garlic. Add the garbanzo beans (reserve about 1 tablespoon for garnish). Add lemon juice, tahini, additional garlic and salt in blender. Blend until smooth and well mixed.

Transfer the mixture to the serving bowl of your choice. Sprinkle with sumac and pour olive oil over the top. Garnish with reserved garbanzo beans.

Black Bean Hummus

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Substitute well blended black sesame seeds blended in sesame oil (for 1.5 tablespoons tahini)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mince garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Add black beans, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and all other ingrediants....  process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.

Serve as dip or complimentary sauce with any entree.