Today I’ll be spending a relaxing afternoon cooking with R for a birthday dinner that’s happening tonight. We’re going to make a vegetarian meal and the idea of making stuffed eggplant/peppers sounds great. Here are two excellent recipes for stuffed eggplant and peppers.
Individually Stuffed Eggplant
2 small eggplants
1 tsp salt
olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
pinch cinnamon
1 yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp currants or raisins
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 tomato, sliced
1 bunch parsley, chopped
0. Pre-heat oven to 350°.
1. Cut eggplant length-wise in half. Cut a regular grid of 1 cm squares into the inner egg plant flesh. Be sure not to cut through the outer skin, but close to it. Fill in cuts with olive oil about 2 tbsp per half. Put in dish, face-up and put in oven for 45 minutes.
2. Heat frying pan, add pine nuts, moving them around for 3-4 minutes until semi-brown then remove.
3. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil to frying pan, heat at medium heat. Add black pepper and cinnamon, stir-fry for 30 seconds.
4. Add onion, stir until semi-soft. Add green pepper, stir until soft. Add garlic, oregano, and raisins, fry for a couple of minutes (about 2). Add toasted pine nuts. Remove from heat.
5. Scoop out flesh of baked egg plant, add to frying pan, breaking egg plant up and mix together. Stuff mixture back into egg plants. Top with sliced tomatoes.
6. Cook for 45 minutes at 350°. Serve with garnished parsley.
Almond-Rice Stuffed Peppers
3 large red or green bell peppers
Boiling water
2 cups cooked brown rice
3/4 cup chopped almonds
2 green onions (including tops) thinly sliced
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp each Worcestershire and dry basil
Garlic salt
Pepper
Cut peppers lengthwise through stems; remove steams and seeds. Drop pepper halves into boiling water; boil, uncovered, for 2 minutes, then plunge into cold water and drain well.
Stir together rice, almonds, green onions, tomato, parsley, 1 cup of the cheese, eggs, Worcestershire, basil, and garlic salt and pepper to taste. Mound mixture into pepper shells. Place peppers in a shallow baking pan; sprinkle tops equally with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. If made ahead, cover and refrigerate.
Bake, uncovered, in a 375° oven for about 35 minutes (45 minutes, if refrigerated) or until filling is piping hot. Makes 6 servings.
Per serving: 15 grams protein, 22 grams carbohydrate, 112 milligrams cholesterol, 320 calories.
