Eggplant Hummus

Am I the only one that is feeling an extreme effect from the Daylight Saving time change?  I’m having a real hard time being motivated after the sun goes down (which currently is around 5:00 pm).  And by "real hard time" I mean that as soon as the sun goes down, my body takes the cue that it’s time for bed.  In fact, as I write this, it is 4:04 pm and my mind is already thinking about getting into my pajamas and snuggling up to watch an educational documentary (aka Real Housewives of any zip code).  It has gone beyond the point of embarrassing to simply pathetic.  I’m hoping that I’ll eventually catch up to the rhythm of the day but I’m also thinking that I’m just getting old.  Enough about my sleep patterns, on to the recipe.

As you all know, Amber and I are obsessed with hummus.  One of my favorite types of hummus is the Eggplant Hummus at Trader Joe’s.  I can plow through one of those bad boys in a day, not to brag (I’m totally bragging).  I figured it was time to try and make my own eggplant hummus so that I didn’t have to keep making daily trips to the grocery store/be the girl buying 6 containers of hummus at a time, pretending I’m “hosting another party.”  This is my recipe interpretation of that hummus.

Eggplant Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can of chickpeas
• 1 large eggplant
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.  Cut eggplant in half, lengthwise.  Score the open side of the eggplant with 4-5 slits about 1/2 an inch deep.  Rub some olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) on the flesh.  Place eggplant flesh side down on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Roast in oven for about 35-40 minutes.  It will be ready when the eggplant begins to collapse and the bottom turns a dark brown color.

2.  Let cool for 15 minutes or until it is ready to be handled.

3.  Scoop out the eggplant flesh into your food processor.  Don’t use the skins.

4.  Add chickpeas, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, lemon juice, tahini and garlic.  Puree in food processor until the mixture is smooth.

5.  Store in an airtight container in your fridge.  Should keep for about one week (if you haven’t demolished it by then).

I would love to add some witty ending to this post but the sun just went down so it's now past my bedtime.  Night!

Homemade Hummus

There are many things that we are obsessed with here at Granny Girls and we are not ashamed of the fact that most of these things are “Shit Girls Say” worthy.  You know, things like fall, pumpkin everything, the word “cute”, mini donuts, mason jars.  You get the picture.  One obsession that’s close to the top of our list is hummus.  We wish we were joking, but sadly (or not, depending on your awesome factor) we are not.  For further proof, see our “What is a Granny Girl” video.  

There are many reasons why we love hummus, the top three being: it’s healthy, it’s delicious & it’s wicked easy to make!  Anytime we get together, whether it’s for crafting, watching a movie or just for a quick coffee, hummus is usually involved.  I've even considered being hummus as a halloween costume but realized it was nearly impossible to accomplish without looking like a girl in a giant creamy yellow colored sack.  #costumefail - yes that was a hash tag in a blog post.  

As we begin our blogging adventures here at Granny Girls, we can’t promise in which direction our future posts will go but what we can promise you is that there will be plenty more hummus recipes.  We thought that we should start off by featuring our go-to version:

Traditional Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 can of chickpeas
• 2 tablepoons of tahini (sesame seed butter)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1.  Put all ingredients in a food processor.  Combine and blend until it becomes smooth and creamy.  If it is too thick you can add more lemon juice, olive oil or even water.

2.  Top with paprika and serve!

You can serve your hummus with fresh cut veggies & pita chips.  Pita chips are extremely simple to make.  

To make  your pita chips, just take a pita and cut it in triangle sizes and bake in the oven at 350ºF until slightly crispy and brown in color.  Keep an eye on them but it shouldn't take more than around 5 minutes.

What are you obsessed with?