Let's see, I bought a smallish eggplant and decided to make a recipe using it. I also bought an over abundance of spinach this week (due to great sale prices, is it just me or did they raise the price of bagged salads, spinach, and such?? it is driving me crazy! why must they make being a vegetarian so expensive!!) so I needed to use some of it up and I did just that with this recipe. I have been wanting to make a different type of stuffed eggplant using only veggies and no breadcrumbs or anything, why because! So I looked in the fridge and there was my over abundance of spinach, some newly opened black olives (which I always try to have on hand, they add a nice slaty bite to a dish, that is if you like them), and some 4 cheese blend I want to use up because I am thinking about not eating cheese any more but we will see how that goes. So this is what I came up with using the above listed ingredients (just remember this is for one person but can easily be made for two or more!):
Spinach Stuffed Eggplant
1 small eggplant
1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach (2 cups for 2 people)
1 garlic clove
4 large black olives, chopped (6 for 2 people)
1/4 cup 4 cheese Italian blend (reduced fat) (1/2 cup for 2 people)
salt
pepper
oregano
coriander
onion powder
olive oil
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Heat oven to 400 degrees or toaster oven to 450 degrees. Cut eggplant in half and cut off some of the "neck" of the eggplant to it will lay better in the pan (if making for two people you are going to have to follow the rest of the recipe for each half of the eggplant [I know that seems obvious but I just wanted to state it so no questions can be asked] if making for one person, cut up the other half of the eggplant and roast it for future use, I did this by tossing the cubed eggplant with the above listed spices and some oil and roasted at 400 degrees for 20 minutes)
scoop out the center of the eggplant leaving about a quarter inch border of eggplant flesh.
Add a pinch of slat, a few turns of fresh pepper, a dash of onion powder, oregano, and coriander to the inside of the eggplant "boat" and then drizzle with a teaspoon of oil. Rub the inside of the eggplant so it is coated with the oil and seasonings.
Then drizzle a little oil on the skin of the eggplant and place the eggplant skin side down on a pan and roast for 15-20 minutes in preheated oven, until the edges become browned.
While the eggplant is roasting, heat a pan with 2 teaspoons of oil over medium high heat. Chop the scooped eggplant up and the "neck" part that you cut off. Cut the garlic in quarters and place in the oil, let it brown for 2 minutes. Add in the eggplant and let it start to cook about 5 minutes. Add in the spinach and let it wilt. Place the black olives, a little bit of salt and pepper and the parsley into the filling, saving about a tablespoon of parsley for a garnish) .
By now the eggplant should be ready, add the filling into the eggplant,
then top with the cheese. Let the cheese become melty and brown and bubbly =] for about 5 to 8 minutes. If there is any left over filling, place on the plate, then top with the eggplant, sprinkle with parsley, and there you go.
What's For Dinner?
Wednesday, March 2nd
Roasted corn and pepper tacos with cheese, salsa, and gucamole on whole wheat wraps.
Thursday, March 3rd
Sweet potato platskis with toasted hazelnuts and cinnamon applesauce.
Friday, March 4th
Salad with baby lettuce mix, parsley, roasted corn, kidney beans, green and yellow peppers, carrots (which I ate out first cause the didn't really fit in the salad I just wanted to add more food with out having to go to the store, lazy I know) and roasted red pepper dressing.
Saturday, March 5th
Rasted veggies and butternut squash and parsley salad, no cashews this time.
Sunday, March 6th
Salad with rest of lettuce, baby spinach, roasted corn, tomatoes, yellow pepper, kidney beans, and roasted red pepper dressing.
Today my yummy eggplant!
I just want to say thank you to those of you that actually read my blog! And I want to apologies for eating some of the same things day in and day out, I just tend to get stuck in ruts of food that I crave and I give into the cravings. But do keep reading!! Thanks ~muah
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