The fun filled, often times messy preschool days are in full swing at my house with my daughter, Ruby! Although she’s only three, sometimes I swear she thinks she knows better than me! With a mind of her own, she has no problem telling me what is on her young mind.
Besides loving to paint and color, she is always excited when I treat her like a “big girl” by giving her tasks. Unlike her older brother, Kenton she gets excited when we play pretend together. She loves telling stories and pretending we are in a new world. With her I’ve found that the more I include her, give her tasks to complete, the more attentive and focused she remains throughout our activities. Her ability to listen and follow instructions is honestly impressive to me and something I am very grateful for.
Today the weather was overcast with cooler temperatures making us decide to remain indoors for a cozy afternoon. I don’t know about you, but whenever it’s cloudy outside I always feel like cooking something new in my kitchen. Not only is it a great activity to do with your children, but it’s a wonderful opportunity to try new recipes. I say this all the time, but some of my favorite memories growing up are with my mother in her kitchen. She is a master of creativity when it comes to putting together spices. Her natural ability to prepare delicious dishes is my cooking inspiration and one I hope to develop overtime. One thing I always tell my kids and a lesson I learned from her is, “if you’re not going to season your food you might as well not cook it.” And! “Always taste your food as it cooks. The more you taste it the more you’ll know how to develop the flavors.” Thanks Mom!
In honor of that, we chose to make Baba Ganoush for the first time. I first became obsessed with this delicious dip/spread when I ate at Brassica years ago! If you haven’t tried their food yet you are missing out! But don’t worry! They have locations in Bexley, Short North, Upper Arlington, Shaker Heights, Easton, and Westlake! What I love about Brassica is that their menu is abundant with vegetable options both raw and cooked. This is for good reason because the definition of brassica is: A plant of a genus that includes cabbage, swede, rape, and mustard. The best part is all of their cooked veggies are spiced to perfection. My go-to order is always the salad bowl! Fresh and texturally satisfying, the perfect addition atop it is their baba ganoush! It’s seriously an explosion of flavor!
After washing our hands, my daughter and I gathered all of our ingredients, cooking tools, and turned up our Disney music. Food tasks better when it’s prepared with music you enjoy!
To begin, rinse and dry two whole eggplants. Once dry, prick the skin of the eggplants completely. If you are preparing this with a toddler, they will think this step is super fun! I placed a cooking sheet on the floor, gave Ruby a fork, and told her to poke holes all over the eggplant. She was thrilled and laughed the whole time while doing it! Once done, place both whole eggplants on a lined baking sheet. Set oven to broil setting. Place eggplants on the middle rack and cook for 15 minutes or until tender.
While our eggplants cooked, we painted two large, flat rocks we collected from the riverbed where we went crawdad hunting. Once again on the floor, I let Ruby choose her paint colors. Spreading the paint generously all over her rock, she had the best time. As we did this, I drank my hot tea and she sipped on chocolate milk. Moments like this, laying on the floor with my daughter, paint on our fingers, and smiles on our faces are what parenting is all about. It’s about simple moments with a lot of heart. Whatever you do, do it with all of yourself- your whole heart. Pour you into the moments that don’t seem so meaningful. When you do, you’ll look back and realize those were the most impactful moments of your life.
Once our timer went off, signaling the cooking completion, we let our eggplants cool on the kitchen countertop for 15-20 minutes while we finished up our painting activity.
Once cool enough to work with, I cut the heads of each eggplant off and gently removed the skins of each vegetable. The skin should easily pull off. Next, we combined all of our ingredients in our mixer. A food processor also works great. Ruby turned on our mixer and let it go to work! Once fully mixed, we placed our baba ganoush in a bowl and gathered our veggies for dipping. Ruby loved the baba ganoush dipped with carrots and I enjoyed dipping sliced cucumbers in for a refreshing crunch. This dip would also go great on top of roasted veggies or used as a spread on a sandwiches. Another suggestion would be dipping warm pita bread in it. Any way you dip or spread it, I know you’ll love the flavors it will bring to your dish!
Baba Ganoush
Ingredients:
- 2 whole eggplants
- 2 Tbs minced garlic
- 2 Tbs tahini
- 1/2 fresh lemon, juiced
- 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 Tsp salt
- 1/8 Tsp black pepper
Instructions:
Prick all over the eggplant with a fork. Broil eggplants on cooking tray for 15 minutes, until tender. When cool, remove the skin and put the flesh in a blender or food processor along with the rest of the ingredients. Mix until smooth. Enjoy with fresh veggies or on top of roasted vegetables. Or scoop it up with warm pita bread. It can also be used as a spread on sandwiches.
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