Baba Ghanoush, The Raw Food Way!
This is a great time of year for food lovers. The farmer’s markets are brimming with fruit and vegetables, fresh and in season, waiting for us to enjoy. Eggplant, the glossy, deep purple member of the nightshade family is showing up in all of it’s various forms. I have always loved eggplant, especially in Baba Ghanoush (eggplant and garlic dip). I wanted a raw food recipe. Raw eggplant can be bitter and have an unpleasing texture. But if you dice and freeze it, once you thaw it, you can achieve the texture you need and also eliminates some of the bitterness associated with raw eggplant.
Nutritionally, eggplant contains chlorogenic acid which is one of the most potent free radical scavengers found in plants. Benefits attributed to chlorogenic acid include antimutagenic (anti-cancer), antimicrobial, anti-LDL (bad cholesterol) and antiviral activities. It is also very high in fiber.
This recipe is full of raw garlic, which I love and feel is the best thing about it! However, you might want to add it slowly to suit your taste.
Baba Ghanoush
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
- 1 large eggplant, diced, frozen and thawed
- 1/2 lemon, juice from
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- pinch of salt
- Advanced preparation: Peel, dice and freeze the eggplant. Thaw before you prepare the eggplant. Soak cashews.
- Start food processor and drop garlic, clove by clove into the spinning blade. It will fine dice it and throw it on the wall of the processor. Add the cashews and process until smooth. Add diced eggplant, lemon juice, olive oil and pinch of salt. Process until smooth. Enjoy with your choice of flat breads.
Miriam wrote on June 30, 2013
This looks amazing!!! Have never experimented with eggplant but will get one next trip to the farmers market! Sounds delish! Thanks!
Alyson wrote on June 13, 2013
I tried this the other night and it was the most amazing recipe I have ever tried! Even my husband who doesn’t eat as much raw as I do, loves it!!!
Maria wrote on December 28, 2012
Thanks for the great recipe idea–can’t wait to try it!
Re whether or not raw eggplant is poisonous, I found this interesting piece. Watch the related video and learn how to choose less bitter eggplant (buy male eggplant–who knew!).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/14/is-raw-eggplant-poisonous_n_962932.html
Susan wrote on October 21, 2012
The actual recipe does not call for soaking the eggplant. It is critical to freeze it for this recipe. I can’t speak for what others have done. You might want to try the recipe? Cheers!
Michelle wrote on October 21, 2012
I wish I had the same happy results! Mine came out quite bitter. I added more garlic, more salt, more cashews and more lemon juice.. I even added a tablespoon of tahini, just to try to get rid of the bitter taste. I think maybe my eggplant was just larger then the average? I soaked it for several days, but in 1 inch chunks.. maybe they were too large? I am not really sure but I am sad because I LOVE eggplant. I am still going to eat it, spread on crackers with tomato and cucumber slices.
Lynnsey wrote on October 15, 2012
NEED A FASTER WAY?
Super excited about this receipe!!! I love baba and didn’t even know this was an option. I’m about 40-50% raw now and attempting to incorporate more recipes into my diet.
As my schedule is demanding, I adjusted it to be fast. *Soaked eggplant in salted, warm water and massaged them to encourage bitter juices to flow out. *Heated cashews in microwave with water for 2 minute (not true raw but I’m a little worried about the yeast in raw cashews anyway.) *Added fresh ground pepper.
This was INCREDIBLE! It tasted better than the baba I pick up from my local Mediterrean restaurant! Phenomenal recipe!! Thank you again!
Susan wrote on October 15, 2012
It probably is faster but I am concerned about the use of the microwave. 🙂