Falafel Stuffed Eggplant

 

I said last post that I had big plans for the farmer’s market haul I got last week… And I did. One night we had pasta with “creamy” pumpkin sauce and roasted delicata squash. Another night we had quinoa stuffed pattypan squash. And a third we had falafel stuffed eggplant. Mark asked if it was a mix from the store (code for “it tasted authentic”) and nope, I whipped it up in my food processor.

I also made Baked Chili Cheese Fries for the Pats game last weekend, recipe courtesy of Joy the Baker… and they were delicious. (Did you know Cabot Cheese is lactose free? I didn’t)

This week was interesting at work… I’m still riding the steep learning curve of a new job  and a new computer system. It’s a little overwhelming and it doesn’t help that my supervisor is not the nicest human on the planet. It’s all making me a better person, right? But the rest of my co-workers have been super nice!

Today, after I rode my bike to the Farmer’s Market (15 miles round trip), through gale force winds, Mark and I had a date day. We  picked apples at Shelburne Orchards and noshed on apple cider donuts, just beating the rain. The Orchard has views of Lake Champlain, so pretty! After purchasing 7 pounds of apples, 3 cider donuts and a pumpkin, we headed on over to Shelburne Vineyards for a tasting. Though they were a great little vineyard, we quickly realized that spending 4 years in Finger Lakes Wine Country has made us wine snobs. I MISS GENEVA!

I’m planning some apple treats with those 7 pounds of apples.

On to falafel, this recipe is adapted from Cooking Light Magazine. The pictures didn’t come out too well, with the sun setting earlier and earlier, it’s been hard to find good lighting in our apartment. The fact that the house was built in 1900, means there is a lack of overhead lighting.

Falafel Stuffed Eggplant

1 eggplant
Cooking spray
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs ( I ground up Stacy’s Italian herb pita chips, you could use gluten free crackers to make it gluten free)
1 tablespoon tahini (roasted sesame seed paste)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup egg substitute
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 can no-salt-added chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Toppings

Chopped tomatoes
Sliced scallions
Lemon wedges

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise and score the cut sides with a crosshatch pattern. Place the eggplant halves, cut sides down, on a baking sheet lined with foil and coated with cooking spray. Bake for 8 minutes or until slightly tender and browned. Remove from oven; carefully scoop out pulp, leaving a 3/4-inch shell. I used the pulp in the couscous I prepared to go with the eggplant.

Combine onion, through chickpeas in a food processor and blend until smooth. Divide the mixture evenly between the two eggplant shells. Bake at 475° for 25 minutes or until eggplant halves are tender and chickpea mixture is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and top with tomatoes, scallions and a squeeze of lemon.

I served mine with couscous that had the same spices as the chickpeas, scallions, and the left over eggplant pulp that was scooped out.