Rice-Stuffed Aubergines

As a vegetarian, everyone tends to assume you love two things: mushrooms and aubergines. Up until about a year and a half ago I HATED both of them. Ughhh, I thought they were slimy and rubbery and just hated the texture and didn't think they had much flavour. 

This was around the time I started cooking more and also around the time I stopped eating fish. Following the latter I really started to realise how limited vegetarians can be in some restaurants where sometimes the only veggie dish is full of mushrooms. I decided I was being too fussy and not giving mushrooms and aubergines a fair try (I think I'd only ever really had mushroom soup and some dodgy moussaka...). 

To try and change this I started to sneak them into curries - covering them with strong herbs and spices and mixing them up with other vegetables was a good way to ease myself into them. Soon I was obsessed. Garlic mushrooms became one of my favourite treats (I say treats 'cos I like to use LOADS of garlic butter which probably isn't something you should eat every day!). Aubergines were a bit trickier, until recently I've still only really liked them disguised in a curry. Then a few weeks ago I went to the amazing Pomegranate restaurant in Edinburgh and had the Bayengaan (rice stuffed roasted baby aubergines with yoghurt and spices) and now I am HOOKED (I've been back since and had two more of their aubergine dishes: Bayengaan Surocrau - marinated and fried aubergine - and Baba Ghanoush - pureed aubergine with tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil)! Since then I have been experimenting with the mighty aubergine, here is my first dish:

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

75g rice (I used basmati, not sure if it matters too much what type)

2 aubergines

1 red onion

½ red pepper

½ courgette

2 crushed cloves of garlic

10g fresh chopped coriander

4 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp salt plus an extra pinch for rubbing on the aubergine

a pinch chilli powder/flakes

200ml vegetable stock

5 tbsp oil (I used a mix of rapeseed and olive)

1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and finely chop the pepper, courgette and onion. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways and scoop out most of the flesh – chop it up and put to one side. Lay the aubergine halves back down on a baking tray and rub in 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice and a bit of salt. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

2. Start cooking the rice (boil in a pan with plenty of boiled water then drain and rinse with more boiled water – cooking times differ depending on type of rice).

3. While the aubergine and rice are cooking, lightly fry the onion in a medium pan using 2 tbsp of the oil. Add the garlic, red pepper, courgette and aubergine flesh and mix together. Stir in 100ml of the veg stock and leave to absorb for a minute or so. Next stir in the oregano, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, chilli powder and 3 tbsp of tomato puree. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every now and again.

4. Stir the rice into the vegetable mixture until it is all coated. Cook for a further few minutes. Turn the heat off then mix in the salt and fresh coriander. By now the aubergine skins should be cooked, remove them from the oven and spoon in the vegetable and rice mixture.

5. Make up a dressing by mixing together 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tbsp of tomato puree and 100 ml of veg stock. Pour over the aubergines then return them to the oven or a medium grill for 5-10 minutes.

Notes:

• Try sprinkling parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs on top of the aubergines before returning to the oven/grill.
• Cous cous or any similar grain could be used instead of rice.
• I think some sort of yoghurt-y dressing would go well with them too – if you have a recipe try it out and let me know!
• Oh and make sure you eat the skins! 

‘Left over’ Veg and Lentil curry

In my final year at university nearly all I ate was curry (wow I must have stunk...). I cooked a big batch every week or two then divided it up into tupperwear to freeze so I’d always have a healthy ‘ready meal’ on hand. It’s a great way to use up left over vegetables, add whatever you like – aubergine, turnip, sweet potato, mushroom...play around with the lentils too. I normally go for puy if I can find them for a reasonable price but any others will do. 

The following recipe is a guideline for a basic curry. The following quantities are based on what I had in my kitchen at the time, add as much spice as you want!

Serves 2-4 (when served with side of rice etc)

Ingredients:

1 small celeriac

1 potato

1 carrot

1 courgette

1 ½ small onions

4 tomatoes

200g puy lentils (rinsed but not soaked)

1 ½ litre veg stock

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp garam masala

3 tsp medium curry powder

Handful of fresh coriander

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat up the oil in a large pan. After a minute or two add the onion and gently cook till translucent. Add the garlic and all the spices apart from the fresh coriander, salt and pepper and mix together for another minute.
2. Add the ‘soft’ vegetables (tomato and courgette in this case), stir so they’re coated in oil and spices and cook gently for another minute.
3. Now add the ‘hard’ vegetables (carrot, potato and celeriac) and lentils, stirring again to coat and cook for a further minute or so before adding the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the lentils have softened (note: puy lentils don’t lose their shape so test if they’ve softened by eating a few). About 5 minutes before finishing add the fresh coriander, salt and pepper.
4. Serve with rice/cous cous/quinoa/bulgur wheat/[insert other awesome grain here] and mango chutney!

Note: When I say 'left overs' here I mean uncooked vegetables lurking at the back of the fridge. You could use cooked veg too, just reduce cooking time.