Vegan Stuffed Eggplant Recipe! (Intermediate level)

This stuffed eggplant with tahini sauce is healthy, delicious, and most of all luxurious. Let's make some. This recipe is enough for two large eggplants. You're going to start by cutting the tops off and then cutting the eggplant in half. Once you have cut your eggplant in half, you're going to take your knife and you're going to go around the edge of the eggplant. I would leave about an inch thickness around. After you've done that, you're going to take your spoon and you're going to go around the same way that you use your knife and you're going to take out the inside of the eggplant. Make sure you're leaving enough in the eggplant so it won't collapse while cooking. While that's done, let's cook our rice. I am adding one cup of wild rice to two cups of vegetable stock. Then you're going to reduce the heat, cover, and cook for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Let's get back to these eggplants. We are going to put these on a baking sheet and we're just going to simply season these. I am using some salt. I am using some black pepper and also just a little bit of garlic powder because garlic powder is my absolute favorite. Make sure that we are seasoning the entire surface of the eggplant and I am going to drizzle a little avocado oil on these before I put these in the oven. This oil is going to ensure that my eggplant does not dry out. We are going to bake these in the oven at 375 for approximately 20 minutes. Let's get started on our filling. I am going to take the eggplant that we scooped out of the shell and I am going to dice these. I'm going to cut it into strips and then I'm going to take those strips and cut those into smaller bite-sized pieces. We're going to simply season these with a little salt and we're going to allow these to just marinate a little bit in the salt. The salt is going to bring out the water content in the eggplant so they won't get too mushy in our skillet. Once these have set for about five to ten minutes, we're going to add this to a hot skillet. I have a little avocado oil in here. I'm just going to saute these for just a minute or so. Then I'm going to add one cup of chopped onions and a cup of fire roasted diced tomatoes. Those fire roasted tomatoes are delicious. Once you add the ingredients, we're just going to simply toss these until everything is all combined. We want all the ingredients mixed very, very well together. We're going to season this with some salt. We're going to season with some black pepper and yes, I am going to season with some garlic powder. I love garlic powder. I put it on everything but I'm also going to back up the garlic powder with some freshly crushed garlic. I am using my garlic press. The garlic press is really good because it squeezes all the juice out of the garlic. I am going to press two cloves of garlic in this mixture and now it's time to add our fresh herbs. You can substitute all these herbs and use Italian seasoning but if you want to be fancy, then you're going to add about a teaspoon of each. That is dried basil, a teaspoon of dried oregano, and a teaspoon of thyme. Then we're also going to spice this up just a little bit and add some crushed red pepper. After you have added all your ingredients, it's time to mix everything together. It smells absolutely delicious. You should love the aroma that you're smelling right now. Everything is meshing together very, very well. We are going to cover this, reduce the temperature, and let this cook for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. While that is cooking, let's get started on this garlic tahini sauce. I pulled my garlic press back out. I am going to press approximately two to three cloves of garlic in here. Feel free to chop this garlic on your own or use minced garlic. The garlic press is really good, like I said earlier, because it squeezes all the juice out of the garlic. Once you have your garlic, you're going to add approximately one half cup of tahini sauce. Tahini is sesame seeds. It's blended up sesame seeds and it's absolutely delicious. To the tahini, you're going to add the juice of one lime. We're going to season this with a little pepper and a little salt, and then it's time to blend this together. You're going to put your food processor on chop or blend, and then you're going to slowly stream in water. At first, your mixture is going to be kind of thick and clumpy, but continue to blend it and add water as you go, and you're going to continue to add the water until it reaches the consistency of your liking. I like mine a nice, smooth, pourable consistency because this is a sauce. So this is the consistency that you want to shoot for. Once you've reached your desired consistency, set your sauce to the side and let's check on our filling. This is looking perfect. This is the texture that you want. The eggplant is nice and smooth and soft. Be sure you are tasting your food and adjust your seasonings as need be, but to me, this tastes perfect. Now, let's check on our eggplant. They should be done. You want these to be nice and soft, and you also want them to be expandable because we're going to stuff these with our filling. The eggplant is perfect. Now, let's check on our rice. As you see, all the liquid has dissolved from the pot. The rice is nice and fluffy. It's not mushy. Everything is looking perfect. We are going to take this rice and we are going to fold it into our eggplant filling. You don't want to overmix this because you don't want your rice to become mushy. No one likes mushy rice. So gently fold all of the rice into this mixture. The aroma should be intoxicating right now. It is time to stuff our eggplant. The cool thing is we can load these eggplant shells up with the filling because everything is nice and light and healthy. I'm going to put approximately one cup of filling in each eggplant shell or two to three spoonfuls. Make sure that you are loading everything up. If you have leftover filling, you can also eat this on its own. It's delicious by itself, and you don't have to put it in the eggplant shell. Once you have stuffed your eggplants to your desired amount, we are going to put this back in the oven and we are going to cook these for 10 minutes. The eggplant is out. I've placed it on a plate. Now it's time to make it even more delicious. We're going to take your tahini sauce and we are going to drizzle it on top of the eggplant. I am using about a tablespoon of sauce. Feel free to use more or less. It's up to you. Then we are going to simply garnish this with some flat leaf parsley. The green is going to make everything pop. And then there you go, stuffed eggplant with a garlic tahini sauce. Bon Appetit! Let's eat!