Thursday, November 25, 2010

Giada's White Bean and Roasted Eggplant Hummus: A Healthy, Tasty Appetizer

It's Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs--time to make any Giada recipe we want to make. I wanted quick, easy, healthy and something good to nosh on so I chose her White Bean and Roasted Eggplant Hummus. I loves me some hummus and this version pairs creamy cannellini beans with the eggplant for a dip that is tasty and full of fiber, potassium, iron, folate and phytonutrients.


You can find the recipe at Food Network here or there is a version on crostini in "Giada at Home" (pg 22).


White Bean and Roasted Eggplant Hummus
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis, 2008
(Makes 4 to 6 Servings)

1 (1 1/2 lb) eggplant or 3 Japanese eggplants, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
olive oil, for drizzling, plus 1/3 cup
kosher salt, for seasoning, plus 1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
1 clove garlic
1 hothouse cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and place an oven rack in the middle.

Place the eggplant on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cooled eggplant, beans, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add 1/3 cup of olive oil until the mixture is creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place the hummus in a dipping bowl and serve with the cucumber slices. Alternatively, spoon the hummus over the cucumber slices and arrange on a serving platter.



Notes/Results: Creamy texture and great flavor with the roasted eggplant, garlic and lemon, it is basically like a cross between hummus and baba ghanoush and a great addition to my hummus collection. ;-) I made this to the recipe except that I roasted 3 cloves of garlic along with the eggplant--I almost always add extra garlic to recipes and why not roast it first since the oven is already going and get that great mellow garlic flavor. I served it with cucumbers (mine were local Japanese cucumbers) as Giada recommends in the recipe and it is a good pairing, but of course it is even more delicious with some good bread. It also makes an excellent sandwich spread. Always good to have another easy, delicious holiday appetizer recipe in your back pocket, and this one is definitely a keeper that I will make again.


You can see what the other IHCC participants made for Potluck by going to the post here and following the links.

Happy Thanksgiving!

17 comments:

  1. So it's basically Baba Ghanoush meats white bean hummus. I love.

    Happy Thanksgiving babe!

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  2. Looks delicious! Love the addition of roasted garlic.

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  3. Saving this! Great way to combine a white bean dip and babaghanoush almost. Great great great.

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  4. This sounds delicious, particularly the addition of roasted garlic. I am going to try it; I use hummus as a sandwich spread and this sounds way more flavorful.

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  5. Beautiful! I love the green cuke frame!

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  6. I accumulate, and must say use, a lot of dip recipes. This sounds great. Have a wonderful weekend. Blessings...Mary

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  7. wow great hummus love eggplant, will try my best to remember to link up my soup

    hope you had a fab thanksgiving

    Rebecca

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  8. I "loves me some hummus" too and this one looks great!

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  9. What a beautiful dish! I'm not a fan of eggplant but may be it's time to reconcider...

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  10. Kat--Thanks & Happy Thanksgiving to you too. ;-)

    Joanne--yep--it the best of both worlds. ;-)

    Jane Deere--Happy Thnksgiving to you too. ;-)

    Michelle--Roasted garlic is always a good thing I think. ;-)

    Duo--Hope you like it!

    Arlene--It does make a great sandwich spread! ;-)

    Natashya--thanks! ;-)

    Mary--I am the same way--this is a great one for the collection. Easy and delicious! ;-) Happy weekend!

    Rebecca--great! Let me know if you do! ;-)

    Cook of the House--;-) Fellow hummus lovers!

    Yvette--I used to not be a fan either but love it now. This might be a great intro to it. ;-)

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  11. OMG, Deb - you know that I love a good hummus and this one looks fantastic. Love the roasted eggplant in there, and I love the idea of serving it with the cucumber. This is on the MUST-TRY list. Hope you're having a great weekend.
    Sue :-)

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  12. Yum! I experimented a bit with our Japanese eggplant this year and tried freezing some. I may have to see if I can pull off this recipe with it.

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  13. Deb -You know I love this one! Wouldn't it be great if we could split a bowl of this together? I know I could eat my fair share of it;-)

    Hope it was a great Thanksgiving and that you had some time to rest!

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  14. hope you had a wonderful holiday. I did make this one before and you are right..its super impressive :)

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  15. Sue--thank you! I hope you try and enjoy it. ;-)

    Lori--let me know if it works with the frozen egg plant! ;-)

    Kim--It would be fun--especially if you bring a plate of your ravioli. ;-) Hope you had a great Turkey-Day too. ;-)

    Jhohnny--It is good isn't it?! ;-)

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