Greek Yogurt Eggplant Dip - Melitzanes me Yiaourt

The Greeks sure know how to cook.  Tzatziki and hummus are my go to dips for pita chips, but my mom recently showed me a new Greek cookbook 
that she ordered which had new spins on traditional recipes.  One recipe was an eggplant dip that I just had to try.  Eggplant isn't just great for you, it tastes fantastic in dishes like eggplant parm and moussaka.  It is a unique vegetable with a flavor that goes well with many different tastes.

I had heard of baba ghanoush before, but never had the pleasure of trying it.  Based on the recipes I've checked out, it is more like hummus in that you have roasted eggplant mix in tahini.  I must make this sometime, too.  Any excuse for that purple vegetable to be in my life.

This particular recipe was the first I've worked with that called for roasted eggplant.  I got a fresh one, cut some slices in the side, and baked it in the oven for about 45 minutes.  Easy enough.

I could tell the eggplant was done because it resembled a deflated balloon.  So I removed it from the oven and let it cool a few minutes, then sliced it in half.

Next, I scooped out the eggplant's insides, avoiding as many seeds as possible.  This was a recommendation of the original recipe, though quite frankly I barely left any seeds out and didn't notice them in the dip so I'm not sure how big of a difference it makes.  I added the eggplant guts to a strainer to drain out the excess liquid.

After pressing down on the eggplant in the strainer to fully push out the water, I added eggplant to a medium bowl and mixed in the Greek yogurt, scallions, olive oil, dill, garlic, lemon juice, and salt.

Yum!  A healthy, flavorful dip is born.  This reminded me a bit of my dear friend tzatziki, but the eggplant was a nice addition.  I would definitely love to try a hybrid of this with both cucumber from tzatziki and the roasted eggplant, as both are outstanding dips.  We plowed through this like a zamboni at the Stanley Cup, using everything from chips to crackers to plain ol' baby carrots.  Everything fits.  Hello, party food go-to.

Greek Yogurt Eggplant Dip Recipe

Ingredients: 

1 eggplant

1 1/2 cups greek yogurt
1 cup chopped scallions
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons minced dill
2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.  Stab eggplant 3-4 times to vent.  Place on baking sheet and cook for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool for 10-15 minutes.  Slice open eggplant and scoop out the roasted filling, avoiding as many seeds as possible.  Add to a small bowl, then mix in Greek yogurt, scallions, olive oil, dill, garlic, lemon juice, and salt.  Serve with pita chips or vegetables as a dip.

inspired by the recipe in the Complete Book of Greek Cooking