A delicious garlic and onion quinoa, stuffed in oven roasted eggplant then drizzled with a lemon tahini dressing with a healthy and sweet sprinkling of pomegranate seeds. Thanksgiving dinner hasn’t looked better.
1 garlic clove, crushed with garlic crusher, or chopped finely
1 brown onion, diced
3/4 quinoa
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
For the Lemon Tahini Dressing
1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 juice of lemon
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425F. Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise. Using a small knife, cut a border inside each eggplant about ½-1cm thick. Using a spoon, scoop out the eggplant flesh, so that you have 4 shells.
Brush the eggplant shells with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add salt and pepper to taste and place in a baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Chop the flesh and leave to the side.
Cook quinoa according to package on the stove top (about 20minutes). I use vegetable broth, but you can use water and season it to taste.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and cook garlic and onion until soft. Add the chopped eggplant flesh, add salt and pepper to taste and cook through.
Once the quinoa is cooked, pour it into a bowl, along with the garlic onion eggplant mixture, chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and seasoning. Stir to combine.
When the eggplant shells are tender, remove them from the oven and reduce the heat to 400F. Fill the eggplant shells with the quinoa mixture. Place back in the oven and cook for another 15 minutes.
To make the lemon tahini dressing, in a bowl mix all the ingredients together and season to taste.
Drizzle the lemon tahini dressing and sprinkle pomegranate seeds, and now it’s ready to serve.