Baba Ganoush with Barberries

An eggplant, sesame seed and lemon walk into a barberry…

I’m geeking on nutrient density in plant foods these days. Don’t worry–your good ol’ omnivore is still an omnivore, but like, when in doubt… add more veggies, and not just amounts of the ones you already know and love (do that as well), but variety and newness, too!

So then, what are some of the ways we can categorize variety when it comes to plant foods?

Textures

Usually a fan of water-heavy plants like cucumbers and celery that you can grab and go without much else–what about some broccoli or alfalfa sprouts for a new take on a raw veggie snack? Feeling like you’ve been eating so many cooked and cozy foods this winter? What about finely shredding or grating raw butternut squash or raw beets and making a hearty salad with them (they’d go well in the Winter Jewel Salad!)

Colors

This one is pretty self-explanatory–are there certain colors of fruits and vegetables you opt for? Do you stray away from those dark greens, but don’t mind orange foods like certain squashes and carrots? These days because anything food seem to be #letrendy, guess what! Even the foods you may prefer the most can be cultivated to showcase different colors. So if you’re really anti expanding your fruit and veggie plate, how about going for the purple carrots instead of the orange? Or the orange cauliflower instead of the white? Those differences in color alone provides an array of different nutrients!

Plant Parts

One could try eating broccoli, but not just the florets–try saving the stem (peel it) and the leaves, too. Only eat beetroot? That’s cool–now try adding the leaves, too! Munching on celery? Lovely–keep the inner stalks attached to the leaves, as they’re tender, mild and delicious. Only ever eat the insides of the eggplant (like we’re doing today)? How about purchasing smaller eggplants and cooking up those lovely skins, too? And might I suggest this recipe for that, if you’re so inclined? And bumping up the herbs and spices is always an awesome way to get different plant parts into rotation–cinnamon is bark, did you know (and there’s plenty of cinnamon in the Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix)?

OK ok ok but the barberry bar pun!

You can leave a comment below with the punchline of the barberry pun! We’ll call it teamwork.

Anyway–today we’re featuring a classic baba ganoush recipe that has an added garnish of barberries to top it off. Barberries are a dried fruit that is tart and tangy, similar to cranberries. Barberries have an antioxidant load higher than those trendier superfoods like goji berries and acai. Give these humble berries a try if you’re working towards expanding the variety of the fruits and vegetables you eat and let me know what you think!

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Baba Ganoush with Barberries

Full of a beautiful and bright, tart flavor, dried barberries pack a nutritional punch and are a lovely way to increase variety on the plate as a generous sprinkle goes over this baba ganoush.

Course Side Dish

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 6 people

Author Lucia Hawley

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplants whole
• 1/4 cup tahini paste ground sesame seeds
• 3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely grated
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
• garnishes can include dried barberries finely chopped parsley leaves, finely chopped mint leaves, pomegranate seeds, extra virgin olive oil, red pepper flakes or anything else your heart desires!

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating up, slice the eggplant in half lengthwise, coat with a little bit of olive oil so they don't stick to the baking tray, and place cut side down.
2. Place in the oven and allow to roast for approximately 30 minutes, or until the skin pierces easily and the inner eggplant is fork tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool briefly.
3. Scoop the flesh of the eggplant away from the skin, discarding the skin.
4. Combine the eggplant innards (yum), tahini, grated garlic cloves, lemon juice, sea salt and red pepper flakes in a food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to your serving bowl.
5. Run a spoon through the baba ganoush a few times to create some lovely looking areas for the garnishes to trickle and fall upon.
6. Garnish with your choice of dried barberries, parsley, mint, pomegranates, olive oil or additional red pepper flakes.

Recipe Notes

Look for dried barberries in Middle Eastern markets or order online--their Persian name is zereshk.