I am unsure where this sits in the realm of kitchen recipes. Leftovers, bits and bobs, about to expire... I had a few vegetables that had seen better days and wanted to use them rather than waste them. This was an inspirational dip and by that I mean I came across a few recipes that got me thinking and had me heading straight into the kitchen towards those forlorn vegetables. I may not have had full ingredients however I had a enough to create something. With the eggplant, green onions, green peppers, garlic and a can of chickpeas I was ready to create something... anything edible. Since this recipe was done completely on a whim, it can easily lend itself to interpretation, depending on what vegetables are at hand and your taste.
The half of eggplant, the remaining green onions and some straggly bits of green peppers were sliced and lightly tossed in a little bit of olive oil. A whole head of garlic, cutting just the very top off the garlic drizzling with olive oil, dash of salt and pepper and wrapped in aluminum foil; were oven roasted on a parchment lined baking tray at 400ºF for about 20 to 30 minutes; the garlic taking the longest amount of time, 45 minutes. I did remove the green onions before everything else as they are smaller and more delicate and I did not want them to get burnt. Since roasting at such a high temperature I decided to check them periodically for doneness.
When the veggies were done I drained and rinsed a can of chickpeas. Gently patted them dry and toss them in a little olive oil and since the oven was still on and hot, they went into the oven and roasted for about 10 minutes on a parchment lined baking tray. The roasted veggies, including all garlic cloves, individually removed from the skin, which is super easy when oven roasted as such, went into a food processor with the oven roasted chickpeas and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 - 3 tablespoons of tahini paste, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon cumin and a pinch of salt and pepper. All was blended until smooth. What culminated was an exquisitely delicious thick rich oven roasted dip or pâté, delicious and worthy of any cracker, tortilla chip or piece of toast.