Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant served with Kale

Today, I wanted to combine quinoa, eggplant and kale and had to look for recipe since I don't have much experience with eggplant. I found this one on internet at Mother Earth News. It was delicious!!  I cut the recipe in half, and this will make 2 servings. You need to start with an eggplant that weighs about .75 of a pound.  The recipe shown here is my version. The nutrition info is for one serving with 1.5 cups of steamed kale. The non-fat greek yogurt was an after thought and not included in the nutrition count.

Baked Eggplant with Quinoa
1 cup quinoa, cooked (1/2 cup dry)
3/4 pound eggplant
1.5 cups water
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup chopped red onion
Freshly ground pepper
3/4 cups frozen mixed vegies
1 generous cup chopped tomato
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp sherry or wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp Basil, dried and ground
1-2 tsp Oregano, dried and ground
3-4 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1. Rinse and drain quinoa three times. Use the 1.5 cups of water and prepare as per the package instructions. I chose to microwave it, and ended up zapping it on high for some 5-8 minutes.  Stir, cover, and let stand.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Halve the eggplant lengthwise. Carefully cut around eggplant’s perimeter, leaving about a 3/8-inch shell without cutting through the bottom. Remove inner flesh by scoring it and cutting it into chunks (I use a grapefruit spoon to remove the flesh). Chop flesh into 1/2-inch pieces.
3. Rub olive oil inside the eggplant shells and season them with salt and pepper. Place in a lightly oiled baking dish and bake for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling. Smaller eggplants may need only 10 or 12 minutes. The eggplant shells should be partially but not completely cooked.
4. Heat 1.5 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté onion for 1 to 2 minutes, add eggplant, stir, cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir again so it doesn’t stick, season with Mrs Dash and pepper, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Stir and repeat for 3 more minutes. Add vegies, tomato, garlic, and dried herbs (add fresh herbs later); balsamic vinegar and sherrry/wine. Stir and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Add 1 cup cooked quinoa to the pan, and toss to mix. Add most of the parmesan, leaving just a little to garnish the top, and toss. Heap eggplant shells with filling, then mound nicely.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 mintues; smaller eggplants will probably take about 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes and serve. Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan on top. Optional - serve with non-fat Greek yogurt.

Rated a 4.78 on the Kale Scale.

Eggplant Scallopini Marsala Served on a Bed of Kale

I made a batch of Eggplant Scallopini Marsala from the Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook, but instead of making pasta, I steamed 1-2 cups of kale and served the eggplant mixture on that. Also, the recipe calls for mushrooms, and I substituted a cup of some roasted vegies that I made yesterday.

This recipe serves 4. I used one serving - the nutrition info is for 1 serving, served on a bed of steamed kale and topped with 2 Tbsp of parmesan

Saute until onion is translucent (about 8 min):
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 bay leaf

Add, cover and cook until eggplant is soft (about 15 min):

1 eggplant       unpeeled, diced
1 medium        red pepper, sweet, chopped
3 tsp                basil, dried, crumbled
1 cup               roasted vegies (potato, sweet potato, carrot,  red bell pepper, beet, onion)

Add, Uncover and cook until liquid is absorbed (about 15 min):

1 tsp                black pepper, ground
1 tbsp              garlic, raw, minced, -
14.5 oz            tomato, diced, canned
5 cherry           tomato, red, ripe, raw
6 oz                 cooking sherry

Rated a 4.5 on the Kale Scale

Wilted Kale with Aged Cheddar and Spiced Nuts

I started out with the idea that I'd just do kale and onion, but then the tomatos needed to be used; and the cheese and nuts were after thoughts. The spiced nuts were something I made over the holidays - pecans, cashews, almonds, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds with cumin, curry, cinnamon, worst. sauce. This meal tasted pretty good!

Saute:
2 tsp      olive oil
1/4 cup  onion, diced
1 tsp      garlic, diced

Add and continue saute:
8 cherry tomato, red, quartered

Add, wilt to desire:
1 cup     kale, cut into tiny pieces
2 tsp      vinegar, balsamic

1 fl oz    white wine

Serve with:
1/2 oz   cheddar cheese, vermont style sharp-white, sliced thin and broken up into pieces
1/2 oz   spiced nuts

Rated a 4.57 on the Kale Scale.

Curry Chickpea Stew Laced With Kale

Another leftover used this week. From the freezer, I pulled this bag of Curry Chickpea Stew. Thawed it and added 1.25 cups ripped up Kale.

Curry Chickpea Stew - this recipe is for 4 servings. Nutrition info is for 1 serving.
1 tbsp     Olive oil
2 cup      Onion, chopped
1 tbsp     Ginger root, peeled, shredded
1 tsp       Cumin, ground
1 tsp       Coriander seed
3/4 tsp    Turmeric, ground
1/2 tsp     Red chili pepper, ground
4 clove    Garlic, raw
1 tbsp      Cardamom, ground - calls for 3 cardamon pods - they are really good!
1 tsp        Cinnamon, ground
2.5 cup    Water
1 cup       Carrot, diced
1/4 tsp     Salt
15 oz       Chickpeas, canned (garbanzo)
14.5 oz    Tomato, diced, no added salt, fire roasted, canned
2 oz         Greek yogurt

Defrost, and heat:
1 serving of the Stew

Add, heat and wilt:
1.25 cups of ripped up kale

Serve with
1/4 cup non-fat greek yogurt

Rated at 4.6 on the Kale Scale.

Mid-East Couscous Kale

Leftovers week. I found a 1.5 cups of Mid-East Couscous in the freezer (something I made a couple months ago), and put it with about 1.25 cups of Kale.  Another hand crafted fast food meal!

Microwave defrost and heat:
1.5 cups Mid-East Couscous (includes raisins, apricots, dates, walnuts, yam, chickpeas, onion, olive oil, chicken broth, garlic, water, carrot and couscous).

Add, heat til wilted:
1.25 cups of Kale

Serve with:
1/4 cup non-fat greek yogurt, plain

Rated a 4.6 on the Kale Scale.