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Friday, September 2, 2022

Baba Ghanoush (Grilled Eggplant Dip) and Tzatziki Bowl with Vegetable, Olives and Pickles on Rice

 I realized that I have not been putting any of my recipes here on my blog this year! I will try to correct that!

I recently started making “Bowls”. Bowls are a rather newly popular culinary term for a one dish meal of healthy and delicious ingredients, usually a grain base with a variety of vegetables and sometimes a protein to which various toppings, dressings and sauces are added that take this humble meal to the next level.

For today’s bowl I wanted to use up some food that I already had in my fridge.

 Last night, I made baba ghanoush, a smoky grilled eggplant dip, and had it with dinner with pita chips. I wanted to enjoy the left-over eggplant dip with something else, so I tried it in a bowl recipe for lunch today.

I’ve been experimenting with Bowl recipes. They are so full of flavor AND Nutrition! This bowl used up a lot of leftovers such as brown rice cooked earlier in the week (I always cook a bit extra rice and put it into containers to freeze or refrigerate until needed), baba ghanoush (eggplant dip) from last night and a half cup of Greek yogurt left over from our smoothies. I had a couple jars of olives open and a mason jar of quick pickled radishes and onions. I like the way one can create a fun and satisfying meal from various odds and ends in a bowl!



This bowl is very versatile. Although I made it with eggplant dip- Baba Ghanoush- you could also make this bowl with hummus. I used a tzatziki dressing (cucumber, yogurt with lemon and dill) but it could be made with tahini dressing. I used shredded carrots, sliced red onion, cucumber and cherry tomatoes along with a few pea pods but any vegetables could be added!  I also added pickled radishes and onion and two kinds of olives but not everyone likes those so feel free to add or not. The base was brown rice, and it was topped by red leaf lettuce, but these can be changed up as well with quinoa or a lettuce base!



Baba Ghanoush and Tzatziki Bowl with Vegetable, Olives and Pickles on Rice

Place 2/3 cup or so cooked brown rice, hot., in the bottom of a large shallow bowl. Repeat for other servings (You may use cooked quinoa)

Top with vegetable such as sliced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, a shredded carrot or other veggies. Roasted cauliflower or broccoli might be great!

Add kalamata and/or green olives, if you like olives

Add pickled radishes and onions* if you have any on hand

Surround the outside of the bowl with torn lettuce

Mound Baba ghanoush **in the center.

Drizzle with tzatziki ***and sprinkle with a fresh parsley if you have it

 

Enjoy!

 

Here is the bowl just before and added the lettuce and drizzle of Tzatziki. This shows one way to arrange vegetables in groupings, but you could also just scatter each item over the rice. You can see my bowl was not wide enough for a proper presentation. 

*Quick Pickled Radishes and Red Onion

If you have a chance to make pickles for your bowl they really add a bit of zing and color! You can pickle radishes, onion, 

 I change this recipe often trying to figure out the perfect amounts but basically it is vinegar, water, sugar and salt with radishes and onions.

In a Saucepan, heat: 

½ c water. Reduce to simmer.

Add ½ cup white balsamic OR red wine vinegar (makes a vibrant pink color) OR other sweeter white vinegar

Stir in ¼- ½ cup sugar (You could try 2-3 TBSP maple syrup or 2 TBSP sugar for a tart flavor).

Add 3 tsp kosher or sea salt, More if needed

Stir until dissolved.

You may add red pepper flakes or a drop or two of hot sauce or sriracha, dried chili, peppercorn, etc

Add a bunch of thinly sliced radishes and a thinly sliced red onion.

Turn off the heat. Let it sit on the stove, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes until cool.

Pour into clean mason jar and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and up to 1-2 weeks or more.

 

** Baba Ghanoush

Look up a recipe or try this one

I washed and cut one large eggplant in half end to end

Brush with olive or avocado oil. Sprinkle with salt smoked paprika and cumin.

To roast in oven, heat oven to 425 and line a pan with foil. Place eggplant cut side down and roast for 30-40 minutes until eggplant skin is blistered and eggplant is soft and collapses a bit.

To grill, heat grill to very hot. Place eggplant skin side down. Grill until soft, about 15-25 minutes. Watch while grilling so it does not catch on fire or over cook. Try not to over oil so it won’t flow onto heat source. If you have a smoker cylinder or can, it would impart and nice smoky taste. I might even use my smoker next time before grilling or roasting for a quick flavor boost.

Let it cool . scoop out insides, and salt them. You might want to leave the pieces in a sieve to drain a bit if they are not dry enough.

While eggplant is cooking, dice half an onion and heat low and slow with olive oil in a pan to caramelize. It can take 20 minutes or up to 40! During the last 5 minutes add 3-4 garlic cloves pressed. Generously Salt and pepper and a sprinkle of smoked paprika and cumin. Cool.

Into Blender or food processor:

 About 1 TBSP Lemon juice

2-3 TBSP olive oil

Optional- ¼ cup tahini, 2 TBSP parsley, more seasoning and spice

Place everything into a blender ( vitamix or other powerful blender is best) or food processor. You may also mash by hand for a chunkier dip. Add a TBSP of lemon juice. 2-3 TBSP or more of quality Extra virgin olive oil. If desired, add ¼ cup tahini, you may also throw in a couple TBSPs parsley.

Blend to desired smoothness. Taste and add more salt, smoked paprika, lemon juice,, pepper, garlic powder or pressed garlic, etc

Cool or serve warm.

Note: recipe may be doubled. This will stay a few days in the refrigerator or can be frozen but texture may be off.

 

***Quick Tzatziki

This is a quick and easy recipe I used for the bowl today. You can look up more traditional recipes.

Grate ½ cucumber , salt and place in sieve to drain slightly .

In a bowl blend together:

Add between 4-6 oz thick Greek yogurt

Add a ½ tsp grated lemon zest and tsp lemon juice

 ½ tsp dried dill or dill seasoning mix

Add in drained cucumber

Salt  to taste

 

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