Here’s a rundown of the last five blog posts:
Bacon, Chicken & Chive Mac & Cheese
Watermelon Sherbet Chipwiches
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Pesto & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad
Biscoff Buttercream Frosting
{unbutton top button and breath}
Well don’t put your skinny jeans away just yet – this Roasted Eggplant Dip is a welcome change to the less than light line up of the last few weeks. Dave came home last week with a bag of garden goodies from his mom’s garden – one of them being a beautiful purple eggplant. I am notorious for being bad with produce and letting it go bad before getting to use it. But there was no way I could waste this beautiful specimen.
I thought back to this eggplant concoction my mom had made a while back from the one, the only, Ina Garten. So I looked it up online and made quite a few tweaks to enhance the flavor, but the end result was a hearty, healthy, low calorie AND fat dip that is only 4 weight watchers points for the ENTIRE cup and a half serving (crackers excluded). And it’s a great way to use up the last of those fresh garden veggies you’ve got lying around. Sorry fruit flies – the buffet is clooooosed.
I don’ t know about you, but my pants are feeling looser already 🙂
(well, not really, but you get the idea).
*Adapted from Ina Garten
Ingredients
- one medium eggplant
- one yellow onion
- one vine ripe tomato
- one red pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- salt & pepper to taste
- olive oil flavored cooking spray*
- 1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1/4 cup fat-free feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- *You could certainly use real olive oil to roast the veggies instead of the cooking spray. The cooking spray will save quite a bit of calories though.
Instructions
1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Chop your eggplant, onion, tomato and red pepper into 1/2" pieces and place on a foil lined baking sheet, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. To the vegetables, add your minced garlic, salt and pepper, and then spray the vegetables with more non-stick cooking spray until they become moistened. Toss the veggies with the garlic/salt/pepper/cooking spray on the baking sheet to combine. Roast veggies in preheated oven for about 40 minutes, tossing them once during the roasting process. Remove them from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.
2) Place your roasted veggies in a food processor and add the basil leaves, feta cheese, pine nuts and balsamic vinegar. Pulse until the dip reaches your desired texture, but try not to over pulse as it will become pasty. Serve warm or at room temperature with your choice of dipping items (crackers, chips, veggies).
https://www.andtheycookedhappilyeverafter.com/roasted-eggplant-dip/
2 comments
That looks yummy! I came home with an abundance of eggplant last time from the farmer’s market. I made ratatouille and definitely will have to try this one out!
Lauren it is so addicting – and healthy – so that means you can eat twice as much!
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