Thursday, September 3, 2009

A Versatile Dip

Thanks for all your comments on my race :) I may have dried out from last weekend's events, but my legs have been a bit slow to recover! That's ok, it'll give me time to bring up something I made... oh, I won't try to remember! I had roasted an eggplant and decided to make Hungry Girl's Creamy Eggplant Dip. My proportions were a little off as my eggplant wasn't as big as called for, but it was still yummy! I enjoyed it a few ways over the week:

Over heirloom tomatoes...


with homemade pita chips (seasoned w/salt, pepper, cumin, little cayenne)...


And maybe my favorite way...


This was a concoction almost entirely made in the microwave! Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do :) Brown and wild rice from a microwavable pouch, canned chickpeas (well-rinsed), broccoli and beans that I steamed... in the microwave with one of those steamer bags. Combined with the creamy dip, this made for an amazing lunch! Especially when the broccoli was from a family friend's garden and the beans from the farmers market were purple :)


Aren't they gorgeous? Even though they turned green after cooking, they still made me happy! I can't wait to get more eggplant... what's your favorite thing to do with it?

32 comments:

Dewi said...

My family always love dips, especially in summer.

Erica said...

mmmm that dip sounds awesome! Love the purple beans!!! All those color= lots of vitamins! Hope your legs get back to normal soon ;)

brandi said...

i "bread" them in some seasoned cornmeal and bake until cooked through/cornmeal starts to brown and use those in eggplant parmesan. no frying needed!

i love those purple beans - we grew some in our garden this year, but I wish they would stay purple, too!

Krista said...

Cool beans!! I bought purple peppers once that turned green when cooked. C'est la vie! ;)

Anonymous said...

The eggplant dip sounds great, very versatile! The purple beans are gorgeous!

Maria said...

Love the dip!

Kerstin said...

I'm a huge eggplant fan, and this dip looks very tasty! The purple beans would make me happy too :)

HealthySDLiving said...

Love the microwave concoction!

Reeni said...

This dip looks really good! That is one way that I haven't prepared an eggplant yet. My fave is eggplant parm.

Anonymous said...

That dip sounds delicious! My mama has purple beans growing in her garden too! They are so beautiful!!!

Ricki said...

The dip looks great! I love eggplant. My favorite way to eat it is probably eggplant parmigiana, which I haven't had in years. . .haven't figured out a good vegan version just yet. ;)

Sagan said...

Always good to be creative with dips :D

I like using them as a dressing on salad.

♥peachkins♥ said...

hmmmnn...never had eggplant dip..it sure looks yummy!

Nicole Chow said...

I have yet to try a Hungry Girl recipes other than the fettuccine girl-fredo shirataki noodles. But your eggplant dip looks great! I'm going to have to agree with the majority - eggplant parm ROCKS!

Anonymous said...

Shannon, I didn't comment on your race. Congrats bb! Sounds like you're recovering. So proud of you!
I love the idea of eggplant dip.
And hey, microwaves exist for a reason, right?

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

Considering that every time I ever try to make eggplant I either make overcooked mush or tough rubber, I think if I ever try again (and really, I am kinda like what's the point?) but this dip looks rockin'. I love dip. I love dip, with a few veggies along the side. Bathe in dip kinda girl and this looks bathe-able fa sure.

Emily said...

I have a newfound love for eggplant after buying so many at the farmer's market this summer. I love roasting it with olive oil and garlic.

Thanks for posting the link to the dip recipe. I'm adding it to my bookmark link.

Esi said...

That sounds like a great dip!

miss v said...

i love the eggplant dip - not something i usually use in dips (except baby ghanoush).

and pretty beans!

Elina said...

Whoa, purple green beans?! SO cool!!
I love eggplant. I like it when it's baked in its skin to make it smoky tasting. My mom makes the best eggplant dip/salad... not sure what to call it. It's basically baked eggplant with the insides scooped out and mashed with EVOO, garlic and sometimes crushed tomatoes. Yum :)
Any fun plans for the weekend?

Christine said...

My mom once, years ago, made baba ganoush, but I never got any for whatever reason. I don't know why, I just always remembered it. So I like any dip with eggplant!

Anonymous said...

I wish I liked eggplant!! I've tried and for some reason its a texture thing - off to read about your race!!!

pigpigscorner said...

Love eggplant dips! So flavourful and wonderful texture.

Joanne said...

Those beans are so cute!

I am always wary of Hungry Girl recipes because she seems slightly unrealistic with regards to her serving sizes but that dip does look good. I will have to give it a shot.

Tyler said...

i discovered purple beans at the farmer's market last year! aren't they awesome? i prefer to eat them raw because it makes me sad when you cook them and they turn into normal green beans, which are not nearly as fun to eat.

Annie said...

I love eggplant all different ways.
I really have been craving it lately.
Your dip looks so yummy and I love the idea of putting it on rice with the beans! I am going to try this, hopefully this week if I can get to the farmers market!

stephchows said...

I like to fake fry my eggplant and make eggplant parm stacks yum!

Juliana said...

I never seen purple beans :-) Your eggplant dip looks so yummie, love with homemade pita chips.

Rosiecat24 said...

I'm not the biggest fan of eggplant, but last night I dreamed that a friend of mine bought hundreds of eggplants and literally filled her kitchen with them. Weird, no?

Oh, I can't wait to have time to exercise again...blarg!

Lele said...

That is a seriously impressive microwave-only meal. Especially when you think about typical microwave-only meals (hot pockets! scary!)

Gena said...

Yummy sounding dip!!

Diana said...

Those purple beans are gorgeous! I love purple food (they say it's good for the brain, anyway), but ESPECIALLY eggplant! It's one of my favorite foods in the world. I'm a sucker for classic eggplant parm, but also live and die for it in Chinese food!

So this weekend I made TWO recipes with goat cheese and then realized I got BOTH ideas from your blog! You must be a fan too. :)

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