Freekeh Eggplant

As summer slowly comes to an end the Dishtales recipe madness is kicking off again with this Freekeh Eggplant dish. For those of you wondering what freekeh is, well, it’s yet another hyped grain that everyone suddenly uses to cook ultra-mega-hyper-super-healthy! 😉 I’m always curious to try-out new ingredients and so I bought a pack of freekeh to see what the fuss is all about. What’s the verdict? Keep reading!

Freekeh Eggplant (by Dishtales)

So here’s the deal, I would never go for a nice bowl of cooked freekeh over rice, couscous or even bulgur. First of all, I’m Persian, we’re very emotional and proud of our beloved rice. 🙂 Second of all, freekeh is way too grainy for me to use as a base or side dish. Therefore, I decided to play around a bit with some spices and use the cooked freekeh together with some other ingredients, as part of a stuffing. Since I’ve already stuffed zucchini before (and to complement the sauteed tomato base) I hollowed eggplants and stuffed them with the freekeh mixture. It turned out to be one of the best ‘stuffed vegetable’ dishes I’ve had. Make it, it eat and make sure to comment below what your thoughts are on freekeh!

Enjoy!

Freekeh Eggplant

BUY:

  • Serving 2
  • 200 gr freekeh
  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 2/3 eggplants
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp paprika powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground chili
  • a bunch of fresh parsley

DO:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F.
  2. Cook the freekeh, rinse and set aside.
  3. Cut eggplants in half and hollow out. Chop flesh into small cubes. Do the same with the tomatoes and garlic.
  4. Cook the sweet potatoes in boiling water for 8-10 min. Rince under cold water and chop into small cubes after.
  5. Bake the hollowed (and sprayed with olive oil) eggplants (on a tray lined with baking paper) for about 5-8 minutes (or untill slightly cooked). Be careful not to let them burn in the oven.
  6. Fry all chopped ingredients over medium heat in some olive oil (10 min). Add the tomato paste, season with all spices and fry for another 3-5 min.
  7. Stuff the eggplant halves with the freekeh mixture, place back into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.*
  8. Garnish with some fresh radish and serve (if preferred) with a nice yogurt sauce. **

Oh and FYI:

* If the eggplants become black on the sides coves them with aluminum foil. This helps preventing the vegetables to burn, yet still cook well in the oven. ** I served it with a mixture of yogurt, dill and some fresh lime juice. It adds some necessary freshness to the dish!

https://www.dishtales.com/freekeh-eggplant/

1 Comment

  • Lúcia Barreto says:

    Wat ziet dit er lekker uit! Ik lig in bed, maar krijg echt zin om te koken en eten hihi. Gonna try this one out!

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