Stuffed Eggplant

This savory stuffed eggplant with middle eastern spices and a garlic tahini sauce is a delicious and beautiful meal, one full of textures and healthy ingredients.

Yield: Serves 4

Spicy Garlic Tahini Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain, low-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons tahini paste
6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or your desired amount)
3 tablespoons water

Stuffed Eggplant Ingredients:

1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggplants, cut in half length-wise and center scooped out leaving about 1” border all around
Olive oil (about 4 tablespoons, divided use)
Salt
Black pepper
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 pound lean ground beef (or turkey, chicken, lamb, or sausage)
4 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
1 1/2 cups cooked basmati rice (you can get this from ½ cup uncooked rice cooked with ¾ cup water)
1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves, plus a couple extra leaves for garnish
1 tablespoon roughly chopped pistachios (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400°, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Prepare your garlic tahini sauce by adding all of the ingredients into a food processor and processing until smooth; pour into a dish, and set aside while you prepare the rest of the recipe.
In a small ramekin, combine the paprika, coriander, cumin and cinnamon, and set this aside this seasoning mix for a moment.
Place the four eggplant halves, flesh-side up, onto the baking sheet, and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of oil (total) over the flesh side of the cut eggplant, and sprinkle over about 1/3 of the seasoning mix from your ramekin, plus a couple of good pinches of salt and pepper; place into the oven to roast until tender and easily pierced with a paring knife, about 35 minutes.
While your eggplant is roasting, prepare your filling by placing a pan over medium-high heat, and drizzling in about 1 tablespoon of the oil; once hot, add in the diced onion and saute for a few minutes until tender, then crumble in the ground beef and cook that for a few minutes with the onion; add in the remainder of the seasoning mix, along with a couple of pinches of salt and pepper, the garlic and the red pepper flakes (if using), and continue to cook until the meat is cooked through.
Add to the cooked ground beef the cooked rice, the chopped cherry tomatoes, the chopped parsley and mint, plus the pistachios (if using), and fold together to combine; keep warm.
Fill each roasted eggplant cavity with generous, equal portions of the warm filling, and place onto a plate; drizzle over some of the spicy garlic tahini sauce, and garnish with extra mint or parsley, if desired.

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