Extra Smoky Eggplant Dip (Baba Ganoush)

Extra Smoky Eggplant Dip (Baba Ganoush)

🍆 Extra Smoky Eggplant Dip 🍆
Baba Ganoush

Baba ganoush is a beloved Middle Eastern dip that celebrates the smoky, earthy flavors of roasted eggplant.

At its core, baba ganoush is made from charred or roasted eggplant, which is blended with tahini (sesame seed paste), garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. The result is a creamy, slightly tangy, and nutty dip with a hint of smokiness, thanks to the roasted eggplant.

Here, the traditional ingredients are used but for extra smokiness a few drops of natural hickory liquid smoke are added. Fans of smoky foods will swoon over this recipe.

Served with pita, cucumber, radish, and gluten-free crackers, this is a terrific vegan appetizer to serve before Thanksgiving (or any) big dinner. With wide appeal, it has tons of flavor, color, and crunch and won’t fill up your guests before the main event.

Extra Smoky Eggplant Dip Recipe

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Socca (savory chickpea pancake)

Socca (savory chickpea pancakes)

Socca (savory chickpea pancake)

Topped with a Salad of Spring Lettuce
Egg, Feta, Radish, Chili, Olives, Dill, Lemon, Tahini Sauce

Socca, a savory chickpea pancake, is known as Nice’s original street food. Often served au naturel in Provence, cut into shards as snack, pleasantly with a glass of chilled rosé. Socca can also be served with all kinds of toppings for a delightful lunch. It is usually baked on a large round flat copper pan in a wood-burning oven.

In this recipe, nontraditional cumin and smoked paprika added to the batter mimic the smokiness of a wood-burning oven. And a non-stick skillet on the stovetop stands in for the copper pan and makes cooking the socca a breeze.

Socca As A Snack with Rosé

Socca as a snack with Rosé

Socca Recipe

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Not Your Usual “Leftover Turkey” Recipe

Turkey with Sweet Potato Noodles

Turkey with Sweet Potato Noodles
Chili Oil Sauce, Celery, Fresh Herbs, Peanuts

Wow. We were so impressed with a version of this edgy recipe for leftover turkey from San Francisco Chef Brandon Jew. It’s the opposite of everything one thinks of Thanksgiving leftovers:  spicy, cool, vinegary, vibrant, herby, even tingling…the Chef says it’s a nod to the Sichuan dish ma la ji pian that typically features chicken chunks in chili oil. Those looking for a leftover turkey recipe that is deliciously out-of-the-box will be extremely excited about this one.

Made only from sweet potato starch and water, sweet potato noodles are also known as Korean glass noodles. They do not contain wheat so these noodles are naturally gluten-free, and are slightly chewy and springy with a neutral flavor perfect for absorbing chili oil sauce.

My adaptation of Chef Jew’s recipe is below, using more readily available ingredients and it’s a bit less spicy to boot. If Sichuan peppercorns are not available, leaving them out will eliminate the tingling sensation, but this dish will still be worth making! His original recipe is here.

Turkey with Sweet Potato Noodles Recipe

Plus My “Do Nothing” Recipe for Cooking a  Perfect Turkey

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Black Bean Soup with Salsa Verde

Black Bean Soup with Salsa Verde

Fiesta in a Bowl
Black Bean Soup with Salsa Verde

This is one sassy black bean soup. It is easy to make and gets a kick of heat and smoky authentic flavor from the addition of fire-roasted salsa verde added at the end of cooking. Let each diner go crazy with the garnishes according to their own taste: pickled red onion, garlic crema, tomato, jalapeño, and cilantro all add to this fiesta in a bowl. The black bean canvas is artistically painted with a array of flavors, textures, and colors. 

With only 4 ingredients (tomatillos, jalapeños, salt, and water) –  our favorite Salsa de Molcajete Verde from the refrigerated section at the supermarket, adds robust Mexican taste without having to take the extra steps to roast chiles and tomatillos over an open flame. 

Black Bean Soup with Salsa Verde Recipe

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Cooking in Challenging Times

Chickpea Stew with Lots of Veggies

Chickpea Stew with Lots of Veggies
Kale, Cabbage, Spinach, Carrot, Onion, Celery, Tomato

We are cooking in some challenging times, my friends. But we can do this and we can do this well! Look in the fridge and get excited!

We are cooking without the luxury of just popping over to the supermarket to get whatever ingredient our original recipe requires.

Today’s meal started in the pantry with a can of chickpeas and progressed to the veggie drawer in the fridge. There was a very small head of cabbage left over from my Stuffed Cabbage rolls. Less than a half bag of pre-washed spinach, and an aging bunch of curly kale.

Staples of carrot, onion, celery and garlic are almost always on hand. It was here that this hearty, healthy, satisfying stew recipe began to take shape.

Also, don’t underestimate dried herbs. They definitely have flavor and can substitute for fresh in these unusual times. Hopefully the dried herbs in your pantry are not too old!

Chickpea Stew Recipe

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