Baba Ganoush Sesame Burger with salat yerakot yisraeli “Israeli Vegetable Salad”

A friend of mine is always telling me how much she loves baba ganoush.I had never tried it. Shopping one day, I found wonderful looking eggplant. I had tahini at the house, so I decided to make it. When I got home, I called my friend. I told her I was making another burger for the BBB contest. I knew I wanted to make a sesame flavored burger and I was making the baba ganoush to spread on the bun. I was trying to decided what type of salad to top the burger, but I wanted something different. My friend suggested I try an Israel salad that her daughter makes. I made the salad, added and subtracted ingredients until I thought I had the perfect blend of flavors, incorporating the tahini in the salad as well. When I served the burgers, everyone raved how delicious they were. I hope you try these…you will love them!!!

Ingredients:

Baba Ganoush

2 eggplant
1/4 cup tahini
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Patties

2 pounds ground beef chuck (80/20)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Sutter Home Cabernet

salat yerakot yisaeli

2 cucumbers
2 roma tomatoes
2 green onion
1/2 red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup tahini
3 gloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 Sesame rolls

Instructions:

Preheat grill to high heat. Using a fork, poke eggplant skin to prevent it from bursting. Grill eggplants until eggplants are soft, about 15 minutes turning several times.

Cut top and bottom off eggplant. Slice eggplants lengthwise and spoon out pulp. Allow pulp to drain.

Place pulp in a food processor. Add tahini, lemon juice, sesame seeds, garlic, salt & pepper. Pulse until desired consistancy. I prefer coarsely chopped. Place in a bowl, cover & refrigerate.

To make the patties, combine the beef, sesame oil, sesame seeds, salt, pepper & wine in a large bowl, handling as little as possible. Shape into 6 patties making an indentation in the middle. Place patties in a shallow pan. Pour marinade over patties, cover and refrigerate until ready to grill, 10-15 minutes.

To make the salad, finely dice cucumbers, tomatoes, onion & peppers. Place in a bowl. Add garlic & parsley. In a separate bowl, mix tahini, garlic, olive oil, lemon, salt & pepper. Blend well. Pour mixture over vegetable. Cover & refrigerate.

Brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Place patties on grill. Cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side for medium.

To assemble, spread baba ganoush on top & bottom of buns. Add burger patties. Top each burger with a healthy serving of the vegetable salad. Enjoy!

Makes 6 burgers