Organic, Vegan Baba Ghanoush The Whole Family Will Love (Recipe)

After spending years sampling food <a href="http://inhabitat.com/7-gorgeous-green-buildings-in-the-middle-east/">throughout the Middle East</a>, I am suffering mild withdrawals back in the United States, so I've been experimenting with recreating those flavors in my <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/tiny-house/">own tiny kitchen</a>. My organic, vegan baba ghanoush was a particularly big hit - even with my sister's family, which isn't so crazy about eggplant. And it is unbelievably easy to make. All you need are a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/organic-food/">few firm organic aubergines/eggplants</a> (I used graffiti eggplants from Spain since that is what my market had available, but I recommend using local produce instead if you can), a toaster oven, an immersion blender, some Tahini, a few key middle eastern spices and you're well on your way to making a delicious, smokey dip that everyone will love.

Head down to your local Whole Foods or other market that offers organic spices and produce to ensure your baba ghanoush is made with only the highest quality ingredients

It's important to burn the skin of your eggplants since this is how the baba ghanoush gets its smokey flavor

Once the eggplant cools, scoop out the "meat" and mix in your tahini, lemon, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin and half of your olive oil

For a true Levantine baba ghanoush, garnish your dip with some paprika and the remaining olive oil. Mix and then serve when ready!

We used an immersion blender to mix our ingredients, but make sure you don't make the baba ghanoush too mushy. You don't want it to be the consistency of baby food! And watch out for the blade. That sucker is sharp!

We roasted our eggplants in a toaster oven. Since you have to roast the eggplants at such high heat, using a toaster oven saves energy.

We used graffiti eggplants from Spain since that is all that was available at our market, but we recommend local, organic produce if your market has it