Rebel Ganoush

Last Tuesday the SCRG visited the Eastwick Community Garden to see how things were going in the height of the season. But when we drove up to Pepper in the morning before going to Eastwick things didn’t look right. Our tomato cages had collapsed and lay flat, there stakes out of the ground along with a cherry tree, eggplants, and peppers. DD, Nuvid, and I immediately surveyed he damage. I was worried about vandalism so went into to Pepper to ask the Vice Principal if there were video cameras outside of the building. Mrs. Green, the school secretary told me there was a hail storm in the neighborhood the night before, and that’s probably what did the damage. Our trip to the garden confirmed Mrs. Green’s hypothesis, as our neighbors at Eastwick frustratingly showed us damaged leaves, overturned plants, and other victims of the hail as we toured the garden. Ms. Joanne wasn’t happy.

In Mr. Mel’s garden a few of his eggplants were ready to harvest. He honored the SCRG with the task and Fred took home 2 beautiful eggplants. With them we made a Baba Ganoush. It follow the think AHEAD guidelines as it is affordable, healthy, easy, accessible, and delicious.

Rebel Ganoush

Ingredients:
3 medium sized eggplants
3 cloves garlic
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
(traditional recipes add tahini, we don’t because we can’t get it at our local grocery store)

Along with the eggplants from Mr. Mel, we harvested a few of our own. Kadhafi and Kyiona displaying excellent teamwork.

The first step in the Rebel Ganoush procedure is washing and drying the eggplants, then chopping off the top. Then you want to poke a punch of small holes in the eggplant. You can use a fork or pairing knife. Either way, you want to hold the eggplant steady, like Dwayne does, and the knife firm. This is something to do slowly and with precision.

After that, drizzle them lightly with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and wrap them in aluminum foil. Roast them in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Professor loves Baba Ganoush, and was among the creators of the Rebel Ganoush. He is particularly adept at scooping roasted eggplant flesh out from the skin.