Baba Ghanoush

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 head garlic
• 1 tablespoon refined olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 teaspoon Splenda (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Pierce the skin of the eggplant in 6 to 10 places with a knife. This will prevent the eggplant from exploding. Place on a roasting pan. Place in a 375 degrees F oven and roast for 30 minutes.

With good knife, cut off the top 1/2 inch of the head of garlic exposing the fleshy tops of most of the cloves. Thoroughly coat the garlic with the olive oil and place on the roasting pan next to the eggplant for the last 20 minutes of cooking. Remove eggplant and garlic and let cool.

Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel off and discard the skin and place the flesh in a colander and allow it drain for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pull apart the garlic cloves. A simple squeeze at the bottom of each clove should easily render the roasted flesh. Set this aside. (You probably won't use all of the roasted garlic for this recipe so store the remainder in a small jar and drizzle olive oil over it. Try to use it up within a few days. )

I prefer to mix this in a food processor but it can be done by hand too. Add the eggplant, lemon juice, tahini and about 2 or 3 tsps of the roasted garlic. Blend well. Taste test and add more garlic if desired as well as some salt and pepper. If the eggplant is a little bitter, then add a tsp of Splenda.