Monday, August 16, 2010

Tasty Tuesdays #5 - Stuffed Eggplant

I have to admit, I did a completely improvised recipe for this week's post. I haven't had a chance to buy groceries in over a week and had to find a purpose for some stray vegetables I've been meaning to use up. Behold! The Stuffed Eggplant recipe was born.

I made this up as I went along, so I don't have a nice glamour shot of the ingredients to show you. I used the following: olive oil, 2 medium eggplant, 1 onion, 1 yellow zucchini, 1 green pepper, oregano, tomato sauce, low fat mozzarella cheese, garlic, salt & pepper to taste.


Start by trimming your eggplant. Wash them, cut off the stems and then hollow out each half into a bowl. I found it helpful to run a paring knife along the edge and then scooped the flesh out with a spoon. You'll want to leave about 1/4" around the edges, otherwise your 'bowl' won't be sturdy enough to hold the cheesy goodness that is to come! Chop the eggplant and do the same with any addition vegetables you have on hand. I added zucchini, onion and green pepper.


Heat up 1-2 tsp of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add your vegetables and cook them for about 10 minutes until everything is softened.


Add a good tablespoon or so of minced garlic. If you have more foresight than I did, you can do this before you put the vegetables in!


A few tablespoons of dried oregano give it a nice flavour. Add some salt and pepper at this point, too.


When your vegetables have cooked down, add some tomato sauce. I used the good ole "free pour" technique - probably used about 1 cup. Diced or strained tomatoes would also work well.


It's time to stuff your eggplant. Put them in a lightly oiled baking dish.


This is where things almost went off the rails, but I tried to restrain myself with the amount of cheese added on top!


These cook for about 25 minutes in a 325-degree oven.


The finished product! A great, healthy, vegetable side dish.


This was a hearty pairing with some barbecued chicken breast and cucumber slices.

Enjoy!
Rae
xo

13 comments:

  1. Looks so good! I'm making my farmer's market list right now.

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  2. Wow - looks delish. When I "improvise," I end up doing steamed veggies :)

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  3. oh how I wish I liked more veggies =( That looks good to my eyes, but my taste buds would dissagree. Cheers to those of you can eat eggplant! It can be used for so many things!

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  4. Yummy! I want some now. Going to make that for sure!

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  5. "off the rails" That CRACKED ME UP!
    This look delicious! I have never ate eggplant in my life. I need to start!
    Do you think that Gray is too dark?? I am going to buy some and do a test on some boards this week, I want it to look beautiful and cozy. But not dreary.
    Thanks for your input !!!!
    Kristin

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  6. Hi Raegun, Looks great and I really don't like egg plant. I may have to rethink that!!! Thanks for sharing!!! Hugs!

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  7. Your recipes are always so great - thanks for this latest one, yum! No wonder you're doing so well with your weight loss - all this delicious food, and healthy too, must make it a lot easier to stay away from the bad stuff.

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  8. I'm actually on my way to the Farmer's Market to grab these ingredients! Looks sooo good. I'm trying to find a way to group all of your recipe posts so I can find them quickly! Thank you so much for posting these! :)

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  9. Hello! I can't remember the last time I bought an eggplant. I'm sure it's been over 20 years, but this looks so good I am wanting to try it!

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  10. This looks awesome! I'm vegitarian and love finding new recipes. I've never cooked eggplant before though. I'd love to try it! I look foward to following you and your running and health blog :)

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  11. OH I WANT THIS RIGHT NOW!!! it's making my mouth water just thinking about it.

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