Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant with Tahini Mayo

02 February 2015

I absolutely love this dish! This stuffed eggplant specialty is packed with healthy vitamins,minerals, and healthy fats to keep you full for hours. This is the perfect way to enjoy veggies...and vegan friendly too!

Serving Size: 4-6

Preparation Time: 45  minutes

Ingredients

3 plump eggplants
2 cups quinoa
2 ½ cups water
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. salt

½ red pepper
½ green pepper
½ yellow pepper
1 tsp. crushed garlic
1 tbsp. sesame seed oil
1 ½ tsp. pink salt
½ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

1 can organic chickpeas - drained
Half a punnet of fresh chopped basil
1 tbsp. Masala curry powder
1 cup cashew nuts

Toppings

Pomegranates and fresh parsley to garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180⁰C

Step 1:Pre-bake eggplants for 15 minutes
Place whole eggplants onto baking tray and oven bake.
After 15 minutes remove eggplant and allow to cool

Step 2 :Prepare Quinoa
Cooking quinoa is very similar to cooking couscous:
Add water, olive oil and salt to pot and bring to the boil. Throw in quinoa and boil on medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring intermittently. You will see that the quinoa will begin to expand and once cooked will appear to have a light ring around the edge of each grain. Lower heat and allow water to dry out completely.

Step 3:Prepare Peppers
Wash peppers thoroughly and chop finely into small squares.
Place sesame seed oil, crushed garlic, masala curry powder, salt and cayenne pepper to frying pan and allow to brown lightly.
Throw in chopped peppers and sauté until cooked through.

Step 4:Add Chickpeas
Add chopped fresh basil once peppers) are cooked through completely and sauté for another two minutes until basil has softened.

Step :Add cooked quinoa to peppers and chickpea mix
Dry roast cashews in a separate frying pan for approximately 2 minutes until slightly browned
Add sautéed pepper mix and toasted cashews to quinoa, mix thoroughly and place back on a medium heat for two minutes stirring vigorously.

Step 5:Cut par-baked eggplants in half
Using a tablespoon, remove 1 large scoop of the eggplant flesh inside the middle of each half to create a hollow for the stuffing.
Heap generous amounts of the quinoa and pepper stuffing into the hollows of each eggplant half.
Place back into the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes at 180⁰C.

Step 6: Add toppings

Remove from oven after 10 minutes and spoon generous dollops of tahini mayo over each stuffed eggplant.
Garnish with pomegranates and fresh parsley

See TAHINI MAYO recipe under Toppings and Dips

Enjoy!

Yours in Health Always,

Cara-Lisa

xoxo