Eat Your Vegetables: Eggplant

Today is all about Baba O'Riley, Baba Ganoush, and Bootcamp.

First, give this a listen. Five glorious minutes of rock & roll awesomeness in the form of "Baba O'Riley" from The Who. I mean, the opening organ alone... fantastic! Then: the outfits, Pete's aggressive tambourine playing, and... wait for it... Roger starts singing. Dude! Plus, the gratuitous presentation of butts and arm helicoptering. It's really just so... delicious. As is the baba ganoush recipe below, so listen and read on.


Anything with tahini, garlic, and lemon is on my "go" list, but until two days ago, I'd never made baba ganoush myself. I love when my dad makes it, but eggplant and I have a rocky relationship. Melissa Urban put out the challenge to nosh on a veg we don't usually eat, so I revisited my ol' purple pal.

This recipe is pretty fool-proof. I tried it with just 2 tablespoons tahini but it really needs the full 1/4 cup to sing.

Baba Ganoush
Makes about 2 1/3 cups

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Japanese eggplants
1/4 cup tahini
2 medium garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon finely chopped Italian parsley, for garnish

Directions:
1. Two options for the first step: the fancy way and the pragmatic way. Both taste great. The fancy, grilled version provides a little smoky taste that adds depth, but now that baba ghanoush is one of my staple foods, I'm taking the easy way out and going pragmatic most of the time.

Fancy: Heat a broiler or grill to high. Split eggplants lengthwise and place cut side up on a baking sheet or cut side down on the grill. Broil/grill until well browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Pragmatic: Cut eggplant into cubes. Steam eggplant in microwave for approximately 7-10 minutes ('til tender), or steam in a skillet on the stove for 5-7 minutes.

2. Scoop out eggplant flesh and place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment. Add tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and salt. Process to desired consistency.

**UPDATE**
Since I'm not eating baba ghanoush as a dip on pita bread (ahem), I've found a new processing technique that makes it more like a side salad thingy. I process half of the eggplant 'til it's smooth, then plop in the other half of the eggplant chunks and just pulse it a few times. The mix of textures has great mouthfeel, and it looks more like food, less like someone "forgot the chips for the dip" when I put it on the plate.

3. Serve cold or at room temperature. Top with chopped parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Here's my Mediterranean feast, featuring homemade baba ganoush, alongside a grilled pork chop, sliced cucumber, and olives – with raspberries and almonds for dessert. This is dino-chow at its best. Hard to feel like I'm deprived when my plates look like this!

And now, on to Bootcamp from this morning, with Crystal, the 9th fittest woman in the world. It was a doozie of a team workout. By the end, the dirt on our arms and legs had turned to mud, and we were caked in grass clippings like slabs of chicken-fried steak. Only not at all delicious.

Bootcamp Workout
As a team, complete:

• 300 squats
• 300 broad jumps
• 50 handstand pushups
• 10 200m sprints

Our time: 12:something (I couldn't hear over the sound of my own panting.)


2 rounds, 10-lb. ball:

• 15 med ball cleans
• 15 2-tap + overhead situps

3 rounds:

• 5 burpees
• 15 supermans