spicy sesame crackers and baba ganoush

crackers are simple to make and there are an endless amount of possibilities when it comes to flavors. i wanted something spicy, with sesame seeds to compliment a lovely chickpea-eggplant dip i made up.

for the baba ganoush:

2 eggplants

1-5 cloves garlic

lemon juice

1 cup chick peas

3 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

smoked paprika or garam masala

salt

pepper

cut 2 medium eggplants in half, brushing the cut side with a bit of olive oil. place skin side down in a roasting pan or baking sheet and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes until the skin is well browned/charred. (note - you can use raw garlic. or while you're eggplant bakes, you can roast some garlic in olive oil along the side). let cool for a few minutes before scraping out the insides of the eggplant into a food processor or blender. add into the blender several cloves of roasted garlic (or 1 raw clove), tahini, lemon juice, chick peas, spices, salt and pepper. blend until smooth, adjust flavors and texture by adding more or less lemon juice or chick peas. should be slightly thinner texture than hummus. you don't to use chick peas, but it does wonders to the texture of your dip without taking away from the flavor of the roasted eggplant!

sesame crackers ~ 4-6 servings

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup wheat bran

1/2 cup oil (i used a grapeseed oil marinated with chili peppers)

1/2 cup cold water

teaspoon sea salt

combine all ingredients in food processor, or mix by hand. once combined, place dough on floured surface and kneed briefly, adjusting consistency with additional flour if necessary. you should have a dry but not too crumbly dough. roll out as thinly as possible (1/8 inch), flouring both sides so as to not stick to your rolling pin. take a fork and poke wholes all over your rolled out dough. use the rim of a glass to cut circular crackers, or cut to desired shape/size. place on a baking sheet with parchment paper. bake at 400 degrees until bottoms are light brown (bake time will depend on thickness and size of crackers.) once bottoms are browned, gently flip each cracker over, and bake for a couple more minutes. cool on a drying rack and sprinkle with a bit more salt.