Roasted Eggplant “Hummus" ♥ (Eggplant & Chickpea Dip & Spread)

An addictive mix of roasted eggplant and chickpeas, a dip, a spread, a sauce, a scoop-it-by-the-spoonful-straight-from-the-fridge somethin'. It's the result of a happy accident, a last-minute leaving-on-vacation decision to throw separate batches of hummus and baba ganoush into the food processor together. Together. My notes from that day call it "Smoothest, Creamiest Most Amazing Hummus Ever" with three exclamation points. Three!!! And almost three years later? Ever since, I make it this way on purpose! Quick & easy. Low Carb. Weight Watchers friendly. Naturally Gluten Free.

There's just one thing hard about today's extra-special recipe: what to call it.

IS IT HUMMUS? Well, technically "no" since hummus means "chickpeas" – and even though it does call for chickpeas, it has no tahini and the texture is much much lighter and smoother than hummus, airy, almost.
IS IT A DIP and a SPREAD? Yes! It's so easy to use as a dip with vegetables raw and cooker, even potato chips. Yes! It's fabulous spread on sandwiches, a sort of garlicky mayonnaise.
IS IT A MUST-MAKE? YES! Finally, an easy answer! For Thanksgiving, it can serve a dual purpose, a dip for veggies on the big Turkey Day and a spread for leftover turkey sandwiches afterward.

I've looked through several middle-eastern cookbooks to see if there's some name. Surely I'm not the first to invent this combination of roasted eggplant and chickpeas? Anyone know what this is? Anyone?

Here's how I've been using it:
Spread on bread or toast, an excellent mayonnaise substitute; a peanut butter substitute; just for its own goodness.
Drizzled over chicken kabobs.
Spread on Jerusalem Turkey Burgers with Zucchini.
In an appetizer "threesome" with Crazy-Good Crazy-Smooth Hummus plus either Roasted Roma Tomatoes or an artichoke tapenade.
In a meze plate along with smoked trout or gravlax, some pickles, a few olives, some fruit.
Drizzled over vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli, steamed or roasted or grilled.
Drizzled over sautéed spinach or kale.
Tossed with poached or fried eggs or spooned like hollandaise sauce over Eggs Benedict.

WORD DANCERS In Arabic, "hummus" means "chickpeas" not "chickpeas mashed with tahini, garlic and a little oil". In deference, I call this recipe Roasted Eggplant "Hummus" – hummus in quotes.

RECIPE for ROASTED EGGPLANT "HUMMUS"
(Eggplant-Chickpea Dip & Spread)

Hands-on time: 15 minutes over 90 minutes
Time to table: 12 - 24 hours
Makes 3 cups

ROASTED EGGPLANT
1 small eggplant, 16 ounces or a little bigger

HUMMUS
1 small garlic clove
A generous 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
271 grams cooked dried chickpeas, cooked especially for hummus
10 tablespoons (140g) 0% Greek yogurt (we're Fage fans!)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

ROASTED EGGPLANT Set oven to 400F/200C. Prick the whole eggplant with the tip of a knife, set on top of a baking sheet and roast for an 60 - 90 minutes, until interior flesh turns soft and creamy, the best clue is that the skin gets soft and the eggplant begins to deflate. Let cool, cut in half lengthwise. If there are obvious strips of seeds which will roughly separate, great, pull them off and discard; otherwise, scrape the flesh off the skin and discard the skin. Let cool a bit.

HUMMUS In a food processor, process the garlic, salt and white pepper by themselves, just to get the garlic chopped up. Add the chickpeas and process until very smooth, scraping down the sides as needed; take a little time here, you want to get the chickpeas as smooth as you can on their own. Now add the Roasted Eggplant and process, again until very smooth. Really work these two together, from here on, it won't really be possible to really get into the meat of the chickpeas. Add the yogurt and process until smooth. While the food processor is running, drizzle the oil down into the feeding tube, adding just a little at a time. The mixture will expand in volume like mayonnaise. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, knowing the flavors will continue to develop and sharpen.

REFRIGERATE Transfer to a glass container (better than plastic) and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
CANNED CHICKPEAS? I'm going to say, um, no. Some measure of the creamy texture here comes from dried chickpeas whose skins have been tenderized with baking soda. To achieve that, you have cook your own chickpeas like this, How to Cook Dried Chickpeas Especially for Hummus aka "Jerusalem Chickpeas". You won't regret it ... but you will need to plan a little ahead. My own rhythm is to do the chickpeas and the eggplant on one day, then mix this Roasted Eggplant Hummus and my Crazy-Good, Crazy-Smooth Hummus the next.
EGGPLANT If your eggplant weighs two pounds, say, which is more typical at least in my grocery stores, just plan to use half the roasted interior flesh.
THOSE PESKY EGGPLANT SEEDS The fewer the seeds, the prettier the color will be. But I've come to accept a sort of grayness and appreciate the slight texture the seeds add.
GARLIC It's easy to get carried away with the garlic here, a little goes a long way. I've settled on a small clove, maybe a half teaspoon if it were minced. And when you first mix it, you'll wonder if you should've used more, know that the garlic flavor develops after a few hours in the fridge.
OIL-FREE? In my last batch, I tasted the mixture before adding the oil and realized that I might be happy with some less olive oil, perhaps none at all. So give it a taste beforehand, see what you think. My tastebuds have been spoiled, I'm not fooling with something I love so much. :-)

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Tablespoon/Quarter Cup: 19/77 Calories; 1/5g Tot Fat; 0/1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 36/144mg Sodium; 2/7g Carb; 0/2g Fiber; 0/1g Sugar; 1/3g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points .5/1.5 & PointsPlus 0/2 & SmartPoints .5/2 & Freestyle 0/1. CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1/3 cup (1g protein).

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MORE FAVORITE HUMMUS RECIPES

~ How to Cook Dried Chickpeas Especially for Hummus aka "Jerusalem Chickpeas" ~
~ Cauliflower Hummus ~
~ Pumpkin Hummus with Honey ~
~ Eggplant Sandwiches with Cilantro Hummus ~
~ more recipes with beans, lentils & other legumes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Chicken Greek Salad with Simple Hummus ~
~ more recipes for canned & dried beans ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

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