I’ve had the pleasure of cooking for my London, Ontario family this past week which has been extra pleasurable because I’ve been able to do it in a proper backyard with a barbecue and copious glasses of wine and gin and tonics (oof, my liver will need a break after this vacation). I made this eggplant dip as an easy appetizer and served it with a big bowl of grilled baguette slices, resulting in a creamy and chewy combination of textures that made everyone exclaim how tasty this recipe is. That’s the best part of this recipe, it’s ridiculously simple and endlessly adaptable but this is the dip at its most simple: Greek yogurt, tahini, sesame oil, soy sauce, minced ginger, cumin, and all sorts of fresh and dried herbs could be added (or not!) and it will always be fantastic.

ridiculously simple and creamy eggplant dip:

1 large eggplant

1-2 finely minced cloves of garlic

Juice of one lemon

Olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper

Dried chilies

Lots of fresh basil and mint, cut in a chiffonade

1. Pierce the eggplant several times with a fork. Either grill the eggplant over direct heat until shrunken and almost inedible looking OR do the same in a very hot oven for up to an hour. If you have a gas oven you can also directly char the eggplant on the flames until caved in and black.
2. Scoop out the custardy eggplant insides into a bowl and whip up with a for until a super creamy consistency is created.
3. Stir in the garlic, lemon juice, a few generous slugs of olive oil, salt and pepper. Decant into a shallow bowl and drizzle with more olive oil. Top with dried chilies, fresh basil and mint. Serve with grilled or toasted baguette slices that have been brushed with olive oil before toasting.

Richard Hawley is good hanging out with your dad in the backyard while barbecuing music, I think anyone would agree with that. He’s like Johnny Cash, but new and different so you can talk about it with each other. Plus there’s something fall-ish about Richard Hawley, warm and inviting, lush and poignant.

Richard Hawley – Run For Me