I couldn’t have been happier to hear this for a number of reasons but mostly because I now had something to look forward to in Penn Station, where I typically find myself longing for a noodle bar or a Shake Shack or a Motorino’s. I now never come home without a few tubs of this smoky baba ghanoush. And now, thanks to Julia Turshen’s Small Victories, I know how to make it at home. The recipe calls for charring whole eggplant on a grill (as here) or over an open flame until the skin is blackened, but Turshen also gives an alternative path, which I took: roast at 425ºF for 45 minutes. The rest is easy: pulse the eggplant flesh in a food processor with tahini, Greek yogurt, salt, and fresh lemon, and before serving, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with za’atar. This is an ideal meal for me: smoky eggplant dip, bread, and maybe a salad for good measure. This was the first of many delicious recipes I’ve made from Small Victories, the big victories thus far being the eggs fried in olive oil served atop a smear of lemony yogurt, lentils with turmeric, ginger, and coconut milk, and a whiskey sour sweetened with maple syrup. Nothing has been too complicated. Everything has been super flavorful. I want to give this book to everyone I know. PS: Another favorite, easy food processor spread: Black Olive Tapenade Lahey dough ready for the oven: This is the beauty of the Lahey pizza dough baked on the Baking Steel: great oven spring, light airy crumb: 5 from 3 reviews I served this with flatbread, essentially Lahey pizza dough stretched into a rectangle/oval, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, and baked on the Baking Steel. Details here. Note: I chose to oven roast the eggplant (as oppose to grill) because I was feeling a little lazy and my gas grill is in astonishingly bad shape. If you own a charcoal grill, I imagine you’ll be able to impart some serious smokiness into the eggplant flesh — I hope to one day own a charcoal grill again. Know that, however, even with a subtle smokiness, this dip is delicious.
