The funny thing about cooking all day for a living is that by the time you get home, the last thing you want to do is cook for yourself. In an attempt to try and eat more well rounded meals (how long can I live off of Greek yogurt honey and walnuts) I thought a good place to start would be to make something that I can cook in advanced and reheat during the week.
The combination of pine nuts, raisins and cinnamon was inspired by a dish I had in Turkey this summer.
Side dish or light lunch for 4
Ingredients:
4 small eggplants
2 T olive oil
3 T pine nuts
1 onion, chopped
1 t coriander
1/4 cup currants
1 T dried dill
1 tomato seeded and shopped
1 1/2 cup of grains (I did a combo of rice and quinoa)
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 350
Slice the eggplant lengthwise
Rub a little olive oil on the cut sides, place face down on a cookie sheet
prick with a fork
Bake for 25-30 minutes
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet and stir in the pine nuts, cook until golden
Add the onion, and soften
Add coriander and currants
Add the sugar, cinnamon, dill and tomato
Toss in your grain and mix well to coat
Pour in 3 cups of water, add a little salt
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer slightly covered for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked
Scoop out the inside of the eggplants, leaving at least a half inch
Chop up the insides and mix into the rice
Season with good salt and fresh pepper
Stuff back into the eggplants
Garnish with chopped parsley, pine nuts and currants
These also freeze well.
