Garlic lovers rejoice! Grilling the eggplant and adding loads of garlic and onion give this dip a real bite. Serve with pita crisps or warmed whole wheat pita and you have a real Middle Eastern delight. Fill up on this party appetizer and not on the heavier fare and you’ll surely be leaner and fitter on New Year’s Day!

 

Food weight: 1.0

 

Yield: 14 servings (serving size: 102 grams or ~ 3.5 ounces)

 

 Ingredients:

 

• 2 large eggplants
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
• ½ cup onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons plain non-fat yogurt
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Dash of freshly ground pepper
• Pinch of ground cumin

 

DirectionsCut the ends off the eggplant and slice lengthwise, cutting almost all the way through so that eggplant halves fan open. Place each eggplant on enough aluminum foil so that you can close the foil around the eggplant and create a closed cooking pouch. Spread ½ a tablespoon olive oil on each eggplant half. Add half the onion and 2 minced garlic to each eggplant. Seal the aluminum foil and place on a grill, cooking over medium high heat for approximately 40 minutes until the flesh of the eggplant is soft. Remove from grill and aluminum foil and cool. Scoop out cooked eggplant flesh, cooked onions and garlic and place in a food processor. Add in remaining ingredients (garlic, lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, yogurt, salt, pepper and cumin) and process until smooth. Serve with pita chips or warmed whole wheat pita, either at room temperature or chilled.

 

Nutritional Information per Serving (1/14thof recipe, 102 grams):
Food weight: 1.0, Calories: 67, Fat: 4 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 88 mg,
Carbohydrate: 7 g, Dietary Fiber: 0 g, Sugars: 1 g, Protein: 1 g

 

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Recipe Source: An excerpt from the book Cholesterol Down by Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN; Published by Three Rivers Press; December 2006; $13.95US/$17.95CAN; 978-0-307-33911-9 Copyright © 2006 Janet Brill, Ph.D. To learn more about this book please visit CholesterolDownBook.com