baba ganoush – Mel's Mosaic

I love Mediterranean food and since moving to Fort Collins I’ve had a hard time finding it. Recently, however, I was introduced to a great place that I never would have stumbled across on my own — Yum Yum’s. It’s family owned and operated, multiple award winning Mediterranean restaurant established in 1991.

It’s so easy going and laid back in there. Casual atmosphere, also do carry-out and you truly know it’s family owned when they deliver your food to your table.

The menu is a very traditional Lebanese/Mediterranean one, which can be tough at some times because it’s hard to decide what to get. Usually when I go to these types of places I could eat just apps and salads.

I was sold right away when I found out their Baba Ghanouj had no yogurt in it — Roasted eggplant, sesame tahini, fresh garlic, lemon juice and special spices. Served with pita bread. Some places add yogurt, some don’t. Love it when it’s the latter.

I decided to go with that and some Fatouch Salad — Cucumber, parsley, green pepper, tomato and lemon juice.

Both were absolutely perfect, and big serving sizes.

Others at the table went with Gyros and Shawarma plates. They have several beers on tap here, as well. We were talking with the owner while eating and the story is so true to a family restaurant about how it’s been taken over from a couple generations and they aim to keep in that form. The service was amazing, the food was delicious and the prices were very reasonable (especially considering the large serving sizes). If you like this type of food, give it a try!

More playing in the kitchen! I had this enormous zucchini that my friend gave me from her garden that led me make a twist to one of my favorite dips. When I can find Baba Ganoush without dairy (yogurt) because of my lactose intolerance I love it, but it can be hard. So, I tend to make it at home. But, it’s fun to make small changes to the recipe. Therefore, I have made it with zucchini vs. eggplant a few times. The hardest part of all this is thinking ahead and roasting the zucchini a for a good 45 or so minutes. You just cut the zucchini into big chunks, throw it on a cookie sheet and put it in oven at about 425 to roast it.

When it’s done, you want to be sure to squeeze it to get rid of extra water. After that, throw it in the food processor and add tahini, lemon juice, garlic, S&P…and any other spices you might like. This batch seemed to be missing something but it was still good! I dipped carrots and crackers into it.

I was in a Mediterranean mood that day and continued in the kitchen and made a Village salad. I’d grabbed a great yellow (vs traditional red) tomato at the farmer’s market and added a cucumber that I had from my friend’s garden and some greek olives. I had a red onion in my fridge but totally forget to put that in there. I threw some other ingredients in the mix to both clear out my fridge and add some fun — celery and walnuts. Sprinkled with a Penzey’s spice mix and olive oil. Great, healthy, hearty meal!