Sooo…finally my first dinner recipe YAY! and guess what…it is indeed meatfree glutenfree and if you want to not decorate with lovely feta cheese it could even be dairyfree :). So cows, chickens and the animal kingdom can breath easy for tonight.
I think this recipe is deliciously yummy and it’s a great way to eat veggies and lower that meat intake. For the geek in you here’s a stat: the Food and Agricultural Organisation of UN estimate that the amount of protein required by men per year is 20 kg while for women 16.5 kg. Well the bad news is that in the UK we actually eat in excess of 79 kg of meat!
Not just ymmy but incredibly healthy as well…and it could even convince fussy eaters as well…believe me I live with one at home. But success as he’s given me the thumbs up! If you were wondering why aubergines are good for you (and I know you are wondering) well be amazed as these purple delights growing on vines contain plenty of antioxidants (the dark purple colour gives it away) which protects your heart from oxidative stress caused by free radicals in the body as well as balancing the blood sugar levels.
So, back to the recipe…to feed 2 people you will need:
- 2 aubergines
- 1 organic garlic clove
- 1 small bunch of organic parley
- juice from half of lemon
- half of cup of organic quinoa
- 1 organic onion
- 6 organic cheery tomatoes or 1 large tomato (again preferably organic)
- pepper
- himalayan pink salt
- organic olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of coconut oil
Cut the aubergines in half lengthways and score the flesh in a diamond way to ensure heat penetrates easily. Put in the oven for roughly 40 min in a hot oven (200 degrees Celsius).
While the aubergine is cooking in the oven cook the quinoa. The best method I found was the 1:2 ration (1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water) or have 1 cm of water above the quinoa in the pan. It takes about 15 min to cook or when the grain becomes translucent in the middle and it has a pale white ring around it. Moving back to the aubergine, after the flesh is cooked all way through remove from the oven and cool for around 5-10 min. Then remove the flesh until you are left with the skin as a shell (be gentle as skin is still a bit fragile).
Put the flesh in a food processor with the pealed garlic clove, bunch of parsley, lemon juice, 2-3 table spoons of olive oil and good pinch of salt. Blitz until a smooth purée.
Now peel the onion and dice finely. Melt a teaspoon of coconut oil in a pan and drop the diced onion, shake (like I do as I never can get a wooden spoon in time:)) then add the quartered cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and cook until softened.
Mix all these components together: the quinoa, the aubergine puree and the softened onions and tomatoes and then fill in your aubergine skins. Crumble on top some feta goats cheese, decorate with chopped parsley and a nice addition (which I did not have here) are some pomegranate seeds. TA DA! Enjoy! It’s been one of my favourite dinner recipes.xxx
PS. Apologies for slightly dark pictures but by the time I finished cooking natural light was gone:(
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