Roasted Eggplant Over Hummus

My favorite type of cuisine would have to be Asian food because it’s what I grew up eating. I know it’s also a very broad range but there are a lot of flavors that are similar across different Asian countries. My second favorite would have to be Italian, which I know is everyone’s favorite because who doesn’t like pasta? When I have cravings, it’s usually for an Asian noodle soup or pasta. Actually, that’s not true. I also LOVE street tacos (my favorite is the al pastor from Leo’s Taco truck). And I love seafood—oysters, Cajun crab legs, and lobster rolls. Oh wait… I also love fried chicken (Korean fried chicken, in particular). I love a lot of food. And I have a lot of cravings. However, I’ve been recently trying to branch out a little and explore more Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors.

Recently, I tried Jaffa on 3rd Street in LA with one of my friends, whose favorite food is Middle Eastern. We ordered lots of dishes to share and it was delicious! I really enjoyed the shawarma salad bowl with spiced chicken and toum. The chicken was so moist and succulent, and the yogurt dressing was creamy. The salad was very filling and flavorful with the toum (Lebanese garlic sauce). I like how Israeli salads incorporate lots of cucumber and tomatoes. I don’t like salads that consist mostly of lettuce. The other dish I had there that I loved was the charred eggplant with tahini. It was a perfect combination of creamy, sour, and sweet from the tahini, lemon juice, and honey. After having this dish, I knew I wanted to recreate it at home.

Although it is a lovely idea to make tahini from scratch, I don’t have the time or patience for that. I bought a container of eggplant hummus at Trader Joe’s instead. The dish at Jaffa also had an Israeli herb and nut. I used peanuts and parsley as a substitute. Here is a rough recipe below. This recipe is pretty simple so I didn’t measure anything when I was making it. Below measurements are to be used as a guide.

Roasted Eggplant Over Hummus (Serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant, sliced into 1-inch thick segments

• 1 container of any hummus of your preference, I used eggplant hummus

• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

• 1 cup of chopped parsley

• 2 cups of halved grape tomatoes

• 1/2 cup of crushed roasted peanuts

• 1 lemon

• honey

• olive oil

• salt

• pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. On a baking sheet, lay out eggplant slices. Season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping over half way through. I like to turn the oven to broil for the last few minutes. In a frying pan, lightly sautee the onions and tomatoes. Do not fully cook. I prefer it a little wilted and blistered. After it cools down, pour into a mixing bowl. Add parsley and then season with salt, pepper, olive oil, and about 2 tbsp of lemon juice. Mix and refrigerate. Before plating the baked eggplant, spoon out hummus onto a large plate and spread the hummus into 3-4 small intersecting circles. Place slices of eggplant onto the hummus, lining them up so that they overlap. Top the eggplant with the tomato, onion, parsley slaw. Sprinkle with crushed roasted peanuts. Drizzle plate with honey. And that’s it!