Hot Pepper and Roasted Eggplant Spread

This recipe is inspired by Baba Ghanoush, a Levantine spread commonly served with pita bread.  Mine is a good bit different- for one thing, it is green due to all of the herbs and peppers.  It also does not have the tahini or very much oil at all.  It would probably be even better if you did add tahini or more olive oil, so give it a try if you're trying to cut down on fat intake.

What you need:

3 small eggplant (4-5 inches long and 1.5-2 inch diameter)
1/2 head of garlic
3-4 Serrano peppers (or a different hot pepper if you want.  Also, use more or less depending on how much heat you want), roughly chopped
1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 packed mint leaves
2 T lemon juice
1 T soy sauce
1-2 t olive oil
1-2 t black pepper
Salt to taste

First, turn the oven on to 375 degrees Farenheit to roast the eggplant and half of the garlic (or you can roast all of the garlic if you find lots of fresh garlic too pungent).  Place the whole eggplants and peeled garlic cloves on a baking sheet.  Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle salt on the garlic.  Roast for the garlic for about 20 minutes and the eggplant for 30-40, or until the skin is all brown and it is soft to the touch.  Remove from the oven and let cool.

While the eggplant is roasting, you can work on the rest of it:  Place both types of peppers, the onion, mint, lemon juice, soy sauce, vinegar, olive oil, and black pepper in the blender.  Puree, adding splashes of the same liquids if it does not have enough liquid already to blend.

Peel the the skin off of the eggplant and add these and the garlic to blender.  Puree and you're done!