Eat Simply, Eat Well

Healthy recipes & tips to help you live the good life. by Ann Plough

Roasted Eggplant filled with a Savory Vegetable Medley

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Eggplant is back on my table and making me happier than ever.

I talked about the many virtues of this glorious purple vegetable before, so I won’t go into them again but you can read all about it here.  Suffice it propose that this is something we should all be cooking and eating more often.

What I will say is that if you are looking for a meal that will have you leaning back in your chair after each bite in sheer delight, then you need to turn on your ovens, roll up your sleeves, and get working on this.  I made this for two of us (though we ended up having a little left over, which was absolutely brilliant reheated for lunch the next day), but you can easily increase the quantities with minimal extra work if you want to serve a crowd.  This makes an excellent main course, a beautiful side dish, or, if you cut each eggplant into smaller pieces, would be the perfect addition to a buffet table.

The savory, salty flavors of the feta and sundried tomato are absolutely perfect against the mild flavors of the eggplant, broccoli and chickpeas, and the cilantro and parsley add a bright note that balances out the entire dish.  So good.  So, so good.  Not only that, it’s vegetarian, super healthy, and loaded with nutrients for tip-top health. What can I say?  Please get cooking!

Roasted Eggplant filled with a Savory Vegetable Medley

Begin by roasting the eggplant:
2 small eggplants (aubergines) sliced in half length-wise through the stem
sea salt
olive oil

Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F

Lay the eggplants cut side up on a parchment-lined baking pan. Cut a cross-hatch in each eggplant, sprinkle with sea salt, and drizzle generously with olive oil.  Bake for one hour or until golden brown and soft.

While the eggplants bake, prepare the filling:
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained
2 cups raw broccoli, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup diced sundried tomatoes
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped, included stems and leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Warm oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat.  Add onion and fry until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add chickpeas, garlic, broccoli, sundried tomatoes, salt and pepper. Add a splash of water, stir, cover, and cook for 2-3 minutes until broccoli is bright green but still slightly crisp.  Remove from heat and stir in feta and herbs.

Stuff the eggplants:
When the eggplants are ready, remove from oven. Spoon the vegetable filling evenly over the top of the eggplants and use the back of a spoon to press the filling down into the eggplant. Return the stuffed eggplant to the oven and back for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve hot with 1/2 cup of greek yogurt mixed with 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice.

Serves 2 as a main course or 4+ as a side dish.

Love eggplant? Try these recipes:
Baked Eggplant with Tomato, Red Lentil and Herb Sauce
Grilled Zucchini and Eggplant with Lemon Mint Yogurt Dip

Like this recipe?  Please let me know in the comments below and share with your friends!

Blueberry Cacao Smoothie

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Happy April Fool’s Day!

But let me tell you, this smoothie is no joke.  It’s packed with serious flavor and nutrients to have you sailing right on through your morning or to pick you back up off the floor after a tough work out. Use blueberries or bilberries, whichever you have, toss in the remaining ingredients and blend up a drink full of fiber, antioxidants, good healthy fat (from the avocado), Omega 6 (thank you Chia seeds).

Have you been feeling forgetful?  New studies on blueberries (and their wild friend the bilberry) show that eating blueberries help are great for brain health and improving memory. Very nice.

Need a little more oomph?  Then grab that bag of Maca Powder and toss in a little of that, too and it will give you the all-over energy boost that you just might be missing.  Especially at 6 AM. What exactly is Maca?  Nutrition stripped offers the complete overview of this excellent nutitrion source here.

To top it all off, toss in a generous spoon of Raw Cacao Powder for a smooth chocolate flavor that blends perfectly with the blueberries while packing in some extra iron, magnesium and antioxidants for your health.  For more information about Raw Cacao, take a look here.

What about that kale, you say?  You won’t even taste it.  But you’ll get the benefits of perhaps the most nutrient-rich vegetable on the planet, so don’t hold back!

This can be made the night before for an instant breakfast in the morning, or pack it in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and take it with you for a snack on the go.

Blueberry Cacao Smoothie

1.5 cups cashew milk, almond milk, or other nut milk of choice
1 heaped cup fresh or frozen blueberries (frozen makes for a nice, thick, cold drink)
1/2 avocodo, pitted and peeled
3 leaves kale
2 tablespoons Chia gel (or 1 teaspoon Chia seeds soaked in 2 tablespoons of water for 5 min)
1 tablespoon raw cacao powder
1/2 tablespoon Maca powder
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or 1 fresh, pitted date

Put all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender.  Process until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Divide between 2 tall glasses and enjoy

Makes 2 servings.

Raspberry Cacao Nib Muffins

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Anybody out there need another muffin recipe? Anybody?  Yeah, me too.

I love muffins.  They are a perfect quick breakfast or afternoon snack.  I take them on hikes and day trips and road trips.  I make a little extra and freeze them for later.  They travel well and taste great and are quick to make.

These muffins are healthy, too. Combining whole wheat flour and almond flour with kefir and eggs to create a nice, tender muffin, they are then packed with raspberries and cacao nibs so that the flavor really sings to you as you happily eat your way on down to the very bottom edge of the muffin wrapper.

If you’re not yet acquainted with cacao nibs, these are something worth trying out.  Packed with antioxidants, fiber, magnesium and iron, these are little nuggets are really good for you. Added to the list of other healthy ingredients in these muffins, you’ll find these give you a nice energy boost just when you need it.

A few notes on the ingredients:

  • if you don’t have kefir, use buttermilk or plain yogurt
  • if you need this to be gluten-free, use buckwheat flour instead of whole wheat flour
  • if you don’t have cacao nibs, you can use chopped chocolate – though the flavor will be a bit different and you won’t have the nice crunch the cacao nibs provide. They are worth seeking out at your health food store
  • Frozen raspberries work best here (I used wild raspberries from last summer).  If you use fresh raspberries, fold them into the batter carefully so they don’t get too smashed.

You know you want these! So go on and get your oven warming and your bowls out: you’ll have fresh muffins on the table in under an hour.

Raspberry Cacao Nib Muffins

Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin cup liners.

In a large bowl whisk together:
1 cup/140g/2.5 dl whole wheat flour
3/4 cup/75g/1.25 dl almond flour
1/2 cup/1dl Indian sugar or coconut sugar (or use brown sugar in a pinch)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Maldon salt or 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In a small bowl whisk together:
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup Kefir (or use buttermilk or plain yogurt)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup mild oil like sunflower or avocado

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until nearly all traces of flour are gone.  Add:

1 cup raspberries, preferably frozen
1/4 cup cacao nibs

Stir to incorporate the raspberries and cacao nibs into the batter.  Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Place the muffins in the oven and bake 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins.

Did you like them?  Leave me a comment below and share this recipe with friends!