Greek-Inspired Chunky Eggplant Dip with flatbread and Fresh Cucumber

On my Greece Trip this year, I was able to enjoy many delicious flavors: some that were quintessential Greek flavors, some were plant-based twists, and some were unfamiliar but eye-opening. For this trip, unlike my first one, I stayed in the Athens area. Then on the last couple of days, I travelled about 30 minutes outside of the city to stay at a beach resort. There was a little restaurant on the beach with excellent views, and I spent that sunny afternoon writing, reading, taking photos, and snacking. One of those snacks was an eggplant dip, packed with a twangy flavor and garlic. It was perfect with bread and a sparkling lemonade, and I realized I could be doing a lot more with my eggplant cooking at home. My version is not peeled, but it is every bit as tangy and flavorful. Eggplant has the remarkable ability to take on rich umami flavors and is a delicious vehicle for dips and sauces.

Ingredients

Serves 2

Eggplant Dip

1 medium Eggplant

½ white onion

2 cups of grape tomatoes

A tablespoon of minced garlic

Flour and water slurry

Almond Milk or yogurt (you can use whatever non-dairy milk you prefer, although Oat milk can thicken)

Kalamata Olive brine

Flatbread

Flour 

Water 

Salt

Instructions

Chop all of your vegetables.

You can choose to skin your eggplant for a smoother dip, but I almost always leave skins on for my cooked veggies because they are usually packed with fiber and micronutrients.

For the eggplant and onion, I dice fairly small. These will go into the pan first. I heat up the pan with oil before adding in the eggplant and onion, because eggplant can be oil-thirsty, and cold oil in the pan would accelerate how much oil it absorbs. After tossing in the pan, I cook on medium heat while preparing the tomatoes by chopping them in half “hot-dog” style. (For this recipe, I used pre-minced garlic, but you can always do this yourself at this point if you like.)

After getting some color on the eggplant, move to the side and add in tomatoes and garlic. Let it cook and soften, getting a bit juicy, then salt the whole pan to taste, and mix it all together.

This needs to cook together for several minutes. Lower the temperature, cover, and let simmer. On the side, prep the flour and water slurry and a milk or yogurt. These will add additional creaminess and body to your dip.

Periodically check your dip; if your eggplant is still in the neat diced shape but the pan is dry, add in a splash of your liquids, mix, and cover once again. Your burner should be on low heat.

While that is going, you can prep your flatbread. There are many recipes for flatbread out on the internet. This is a very simple one that I made quickly to pair with this dip.

Add three cups of flour, 1-1.5 cups of water, and 2 tsp of salt in a bowl. Mix until combined, then knead it into a ball. Then let it rest for at least 10 minutes for the best texture.

At this point, if you haven’t added all the rest of the liquids to the dip, add them in at this point and mix them in. Cover again and let it continue to simmer on low.

Tear apart your flatbread dough ball into 6 semi-equal balls. Flour your rolling surface and roll out. When I don’t have a rolling pin, I’ll use a handless tumbler. I roll fairly thin, within a ¼ of an inch.

In a warm, dry pan, toss in your first flatbread; when it gets a little puffy and the side on the pan browns to your preference, flip and let cook for 30-45 more seconds. Take off the pan and cover. Repeat for all five remaining rolled-out flatbreads.

The dip should be done by the time the flatbreads are cooked. In my video, you can see we ate this hot, but this can be eaten hot or cold. I paired it with cold sliced cucumber for a refreshing crunch and flavor.