Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook time: 35 mins | Yield: Serves 4
What a beautiful meal! These Stuffed Eggplant sure look fancy. The perfect meal – delicious with incredible textures and healthy ingredients. Impressive!
Ingredients
Spicy Garlic Tahini Sauce:
1/2 c. plain, low-fat Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp tahini paste
6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or your desired amount)
3 tbsp water
Stuffed Eggplant:
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggplants, cut in half length-wise and centre scooped out leaving about a 1-inch border all around
Olive oil (about 4 tbsp, divided use)
Salt
Black pepper
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 lb lean ground beef (or turkey, chicken, lamb, or sausage)
4 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
1 1/2 c. cooked basmati rice (you can get this from ½ c. uncooked rice cooked with ¾ c. water)
1/2 c. chopped cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh mint leaves, plus a couple of extra leaves for garnish
1 tbsp roughly chopped pistachios (optional)
How to make Stuffed Eggplant
Step 1: Prepare the oven. Preheat it to 400 degrees.
Step 2: Use parchment paper, line a baking sheet.
Step 3: Into a food processor, process the Tahini Sauce ingredients until smooth. Transfer into a dish and set aside.
Step 4: Combine the paprika, coriander, cumin, and cinnamon in a small ramekin. Set aside.
Step 5: Onto the prepared baking sheet, place four eggplant halves flesh-side up. Over the flesh side of the eggplants, drizzle about 3 tbsp oil. Sprinkle 1/3 seasoning mix from the ramekin on top and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes until tender and the eggplants are easily pierced with a paring knife.
Step 6: In the meantime, heat about a tbsp oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, saute the diced onions for a couple of minutes. Add in the ground beef and continue to cook for several minutes, breaking the beef into pieces. Add the remaining seasoning mix, pinches of salt and pepper, garlic, and red pepper flakes, if using. Cook further until the meat is cooked through.
Step 7: Into the pan with the cooked ground beef add the cooked rice, chopped cherry tomatoes, chopped parsley and mint, and pistachios, if using. Fold and keep warm.
Step 8: With generous and equal portions of the warm filling, fill each roasted eggplant cavity. Transfer on a plate and drizzle with the spicy garlic tahini sauce. If desired, garnish with more mint or parsley.
Nutrition Info:
524 calories
