baba ganoush

roasting vegetables in the sun oven could not be simpler.

yesterday morning i harvested two fat eggplants from the garden. we decided a batch of baba ganoush was in order. i set out the sun oven, and it heated up to 350 in about 15 minutes.

i washed and dried the eggplants, and put them in the sun oven pot whole. i didn't even cut off the ends. i also put about 10 whole unpeeled cloves of garlic in the pot along with the eggplants. then i put the pot, without the lid, in the oven and clamped down the glass.

after about 20 minutes, i noticed that the eggplants were beginning to brown. i opened the lid and turned them. after about 45 minutes, i opened the lid again and gave them a poke...they felt very soft.

i removed the pot from the oven and let them cool down for awhile.

when they were cool enough to handle, i pulled off the skin, removed as many of the seeds as possible, and put them in the food processor. the two eggplants probably yielded about 3 cups of mushy roasted flesh.


INGREDIENTS
(all measurements approximate and adjustable according to taste):

3 cups roasted eggplant flesh, seeds removed
1/2 cup tahini
1 teaspoon salt
5-10 cloves roasted garlic, squeezed out of peels
(this may sound like a lot, but roasted garlic does not have the same potency as fresh)
juice of 2 limes
handful fresh parsley

whirl all that around in the food processor until creamy.
serve in a bowl and make a little pool of olive oil on top.
chips, pita triangles, crackers, crudites, olives all make nice accompaniments.