I’m not much a fan of Middle Eastern food, except for shawarma and kebabs. But this baba ghanoush dip is so good, I can’t help but teach you guys to make this.

The combination of lemon juice, olive oil and tahini makes this an absolutely satisfying dip for your grilled meats and vegetables.

Here’s the recipe from Cooks Illustrated.

Ingredients:

2 pounds eggplant (about 2 large globes), each poked uniformly over surface with fork to prevent bursting

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 small clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons tahini (choose a good brand)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil , plus extra for serving

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure:

- Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over the charcoal grate. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Place eggplants on the grill and cook until skins darken and wrinkle on all sides, and eggplants are uniformly soft when pressed with tongs, about 25 minutes for large globe eggplants, turning every 5 minutes and reversing direction of eggplants on grill with each turn. Transfer eggplants to rimmed baking sheet and cool 5 minutes.

- Set small colander over bowl or in sink. Trim top and bottom off each eggplant. Slit eggplants lengthwise and use spoon to scoop hot pulp from skins and place pulp in colander (you should have about 2 cups packed pulp); discard skins. Let pulp drain 3 minutes.

- Transfer pulp to workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Add lemon juice, garlic, tahini, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; process until mixture has coarse, choppy texture, about eight 1-second pulses. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper; transfer to serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap flush with surface of dip, and refrigerate 45 to 60 minutes. To serve, use spoon to make trough in center of dip and spoon olive oil into it; sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Not only is this a healthy substitute to most dips that contain high-calorie cheeses, but the baba ghanoush is also a satisfying mid-afternoon snack for grilled vegetables like eggplant, zucchini and yes, even cucumber. I’ve also tried putting this on shawarma and dipping my kebabs on this. Basically, it’s an all-around dips for anything you can think of.