Good morning, loyal DC readers! If you’re on the east coast then I hoped you fared well in Snowpocalypse/Snowmageddon/Snowtorious B.I.G. or whatever other clever name being spread in your neighborhood. The DC office (of DC. Hah!) fared quite well with nothing extreme to report. Whole lotta snow, past my knees, and a whole lotta fun. I must say, the children’s playground was quite empty when I walked by. Yes, I rode down the slide; several times.
Ghost Baker is not faring too well right now. She and her hubs have been fighting with intermittent power outages and pretty much full time loss of cable and internet. A Heather without her movies is not a Heather you want to be around. 😉 Good luck, Morgan!
I’ve been doing a lot of cooking in random styles lately and this weekend I went Turkish. A group of friends from college and I try to get together every month or so so we don’t lose touch; often it’s dinner and board games and often it’s at my place as I am located conveniently for all parties (less work for me!). While in Germany a couple years back I ate mezza style with family, which is kinda like Spanish Tapas; lots of small dishes; eaten mostly with your hands. Eggplant, an ingredient I’ve never been a huge fan of, is a pretty prevalent dish in Turkish cooking so keeping my intent to be more open minded this year, I jumped right in.
Eggplant is friggin’ bitter raw and I’ve never actually heard of an eggplant recipe that didn’t involve frying or roasting. This recipe takes that harsh bite out, puts a bit back in via garlic and cools you down with mint and yogurt. I tried this with a baby eggplant, but I’m sure your regular eggplant would work as well. With how easy this recipe is, you really have no excuse not to try it!
Roasted Eggplant with Mint Yogurt
If using regular, larger eggplants, be sure to up the amount of yogurt ingredients and the amount of time roasted. I’d recommend 20 minutes for the first phase and starting with 30-35 on the second. Let us know how it works out!
2 baby eggplants
1/4 greek yogurt
3 gloves garlic; minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh mint; roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Roast your eggplant in a baking tray for 15 minutes at 400°. Remove from the oven, cut them lengthways and roast for another 25-30 minutes, cut side up, until the flesh forms a dip when pressed. While the eggplant is roasting mix your remaining ingredients together in a bowl.
When the eggplants are ready, remove from the oven and cut a slit (not all the way through!) lengthways down the flesh of the eggplant. Press down the flesh a bit with a spoon (or carefully with your fingers) to form a bit of a hollow dip for your yogurt. Spoon yogurt in, serve and enjoy.
