Roasted Eggplant with creamy Tahini sauce and Pomegranate.

Hello, I’m back and I’m vegan now. Yeap, lots of things happened in the last few months. I’m not living in New York anymore, I’m back in my country for a while, I practice yoga every morning and love it, and I decided to go vegan.

New York is a really vegan friendly place, but Bolivia not so much, so I’m having a struggle here. I can’t go to the store and just buy almond milk, or vegan cheese, or coconut oil, or even tahini.And forget about going out for dinner. Not many options around here, although there are a few really good places to go.  So this has given me the opportunity to get more creative when it comes to cooking,  and making everything from scratch (home made almond milk, home made tahini, home made granola, etc.) and I must say it is really fun !

So now im gonna share all this new «knowledge» with you guys, and hopefully help you go trough the vegan path wherever you are. Maybe you can buy everything in the supermarket where you are, but you must admit that you’ll feel very proud of yourself if you make your own nut butter, right?

My cat Tarantino always in the middle

Today was so beautiful and sunny !

Lucky for me, Bolivia is a fruit and vegetable paradise, and it’s really cheap too (compared to New York I guess everything is cheap), and I’ve been eating lots of colorful vegan bowls. But I wanted something a little fancy this time (and also to convince my people at home that i don’t just eat salad bowls), so the Ottolenghi book cover came to my mind. Those amazing eggplants covered with a creamy sauce and pomegranate , that i have right here in my fruit bowl in the kitchen and are calling for me to eat them. Although the original recipe is made with buttermilk, i made mine with tahini. So here is an easy vegan recipe that includes how to make your own tahini.

This could be served as an entry or you could eat it as a main dish with a side salad.

Also, changed the site ! Do you like our new name and logo?  The name was suggested by my dear friend Fer and the Logo was made by the genius Leo Pantoja. It’s a New Year people, a year to make changes in your life and habits. It’s time to get healthier, stronger and also time to more travel !

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1 big pomegranate
• 1/2 kg white sesame seed ( 1 lbs )
• 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 medium lemon, juice
• 200 ml olive oil, divided
• 1 handfuls flat parsley
• 100 ml water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: 

Tahini:

1.Place the sesame seed on a large pan over the stove, or on a large baking tray, and cook for about 5 minutes, until fragrant, but not brow. Remove from the heat and alow to cool. Add the sesame seeds to a food processor or blender and grind until they break down and form a sandy texture. While processor is on, drizzle in olive oil, and continue to grind for 1 or 2 minutes more, or until a smooth paste forms. If mixture is too dry, then add more olive oil, 1 teaspoon at a time. Season to taste. I usually don’t add any salt because I like to put tahini in sweet preparations too, so i prefer it to be neutral. Transfer tahini to a mason jar, and store in the fridge for up to one month.

Eggplants:

1.Wash and pat dry the eggplant, then cut in half lengthwise.
With the tip of a knife, score the flesh deeply in a diamond criss- cross pattern by making five or six long cuts on the diagonal, cutting at a steep angle, and then rotating the eggplant to make another set of similar cuts (although do not cut through to the skin).

2. Brush both sides with the 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Put the eggplant cut-side facing up on a baking tray.
 Season with sea salt and black pepper , place in the  a preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes at low temperature until the flesh is tender and golden brown.

3. To make the tahini sauce, add  3 tablespoons of tahini, garlic cloves, lemon juice, salt and pepper and process until smoth. If it is too thick, you can add water, one dash at the time until you have a creamy consistence.

4. Remove the pomegranate seed with a wooden spoon (lots of youtube videos on how to make it). Wash the parsley and remove the stalks.

5. Remove the eggplants from the oven, place them in a plate and cover with the tahini sauce, garnish with  pomegranate seeds and parsley, drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy !

Do you have the same vegan struggle in your country? I would love to know how you deal with it, or any comments you have about becoming a vegan. Please share in the comments below. And if you plan to visit Bolivia, wich is an amazing country, I could give some tips and recomend you some places. Please feel free to contact me.