Unsung Heroes

The folks over at Serious Eats posed the following challenge: highlight ingredients that usually don't get much respect in the kitchen. I just posted about my pantry staples and have been giving a lot of thought to what you can do with very little. Being on a budget means finding creative uses for inexpensive ingredients is a necessity. I recently found myself in a bind with little time to spare and was saved by my favorite underappreciated item: a humble can of beans.

When beans are on sale I have a field day, buying them in every variety and storing them away like a squirrel. Kidney beans, black beans, and cannellini beans can turn into hearty and satisfying meals for practically nothing. Besides the usual applications like chili or rice and beans, I'd like to highlight their power to stretch pricier ingredients without sacrificing flavor. I'd been dying to roast up an eggplant for some baba ghanouj, the delicious Middle Eastern eggplant dip with lemon, garlic and tahini. When dinner for one became dinner with Fred's friends, the Hatrocks, I realized that my small eggplant might not be enough to feed 4. Enter the hero of the hour, a can of cannellini beans. It also had the added value of replacing the pricey tahini in the original recipe by providing the same flavor and texture. The result is somewhat hummus-like but definitely retains the rich roasted eggplant flavor.

Ingredients

1 small or medium eggplant

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

A few cloves of garlic

Juice of 1 lemon

Splash of olive oil

Optional: paprika

Cut the top off the eggplant and wrap the whole thing in foil. Roast at 350 degrees until it's nice and soft all the way through. This might take up to an hour. Meanwhile wrap a few garlic cloves in foil and pop in alongside the eggplant for about 10 minutes until slightly soft. When the eggplant is done and cooled enough to handle, throw everything in a food processer or blender with some salt and pepper. I like it a little chunky, but it's up to you. I also like all of the eggplant skin but somepeople might not. I toasted up some pita bread which is a million times cheaper than buying pita chips at the store. I also sliced up a pepper from my CSA to serve alongside.