We have been, admittedly, a little lazy with the website updates this summer. We got a little distracted with the beach and vacations and drinking nice beers. But, with fall comes a renewed sense of purpose and less of a desire to venture outside, so we will be writing a lot more on here in the coming weeks.
Stuffed eggplant Provencal is an absolutely delicious meal. A nice Herbes de Provence spice blend adds a certain French “je nesaisquo” to dishes and distinguishes it from other Mediterranean cuisines.
If you have a pestle and mortar, it’s not a bad idea to crush the dried herbs before adding them to the dish as dried rosemary can be a little tough. You can also do this a little with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Serving this with a nice French wine is a must- it will really complement the flavours of the stuffed eggplant. This dish is a meal in itself, so it should be served with something simple, such as a crusty French baguette with a little vegan butter or a simple green salad with avocado, pine nuts and light French Vinaigrette.
I have included my recipe for French dressing below. In this dressing, the Vegenaise mimics the taste of egg yolks and, along side the honey and dijoin mustard, adds a nice creaminess to the vinaigrette. Black salt is sea salt blended with activated charcoal. It is optional, but black salt adds a certain egg-like flavour to dishes and a little goes a long way. This dressing recipe makes a lot, but it will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.
1) Preheat oven to 400
2) Cook rice.
3) Slice the eggplants in half, brush the outside with olive oil and salt, and cook, face down for about 20 minutes on a baking sheet. Do not overcook. Remove from oven, set aside to cook.
3) Sautee onions in olive oil in large pan until translucent. Add garlic cloves and carrots, sautee for about 20 minutes. Add onions, zucchini, mushrooms, and carrot. Season generously with salt, pepper, herbs de provence, and garlic salt.
4) After 5 minutes, add brown rice to pan and a splash of balsamic and olive oil. Mix with vegetables, add more seasoning if necessary to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes.
5) Turn over eggplants, and press white flesh down with a spoon to make room for the stuffing. Add stuffing, pat down, and cover with bread crumbs, Daiya cheese, and salt and pepper. If there is extra stuffing that doesn’t fit in the eggplants, just bake it on the baking sheet.
6) Turn down heat to 350. Bake for about 30 minutes. If the bread crumbs don’t brown, you can finish it off under the broiler for a couple of minutes, but watch it carefully.
French Vinaigrette: ½ cup olive oil ¼ cup vegenaise 2 tablespoons white wine, red wine, sherry, or champagne vinegar 1.5 tablespoonsDijon 2 tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon black salt (optional) Generous amount of dried Herbe de Provence spice blend, salt & pepper.1) Place all ingredients in food processor, blend until smooth. I had to tilt my food processor to the side because there wasn’t enough liquid in it for the blade to work properly and crush the Herbes de Provence.
2) My salad dressing ingredient amounts are all a little approximate and intuitive. If the dressing is too thick, I add a little oil or (in a creamy dressing) almond milk to liquefy it and if it’s too light, I will add whatever thickener I happen to be using, be it vegenaise or almonds, pine nuts, or cashews. If it needs more salt, sweetness, or seasoning, I act accordingly and blend again. Salad dressings can almost always be remedied.
Une Petite Cuisine 