Baked Eggplant with Savory Cheese Stuffing

Yield: 4 servings | 3 pts per serving

My rating:

If you are looking for a vegetarian main dish that is not only low-fat and nutritious, but filling and savory as well, this one is fantastic! My only real complaint is that these take over an hour to prepare and bake - longer than I prefer. This dish is definitely worth your while though; so if you have the time, give them a try. If you are looking for a side-dish to serve with these, rice works very well. Bon appetite!

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes (chopping and sautéing veggies)
Baking time: 55 total minutes

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants, about 1 lb each (I recommend shorter, rounder eggplants, so they are easier to stuff)
Cooking spray
1 (1-ounce) slice white bread (I used 4 Tb breadcrumbs instead)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 1/4 cups finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup finely chopped seeded plum tomato (2-3 plum tomatoes)
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano or ¼ tsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup (3 oz) crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove stems and cut each eggplant in half. Score cut-sides of each eggplant-half by making 4 diagonal cuts. Place the eggplant-halves, cut sides down, on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven; cool on pan 10 minutes. Carefully remove pulp, leaving a 1/3" thick shell; reserve eggplant shells. Chop pulp and set aside.

(To shorten the cooking time, you can microwave the eggplant cut side down for 5 minutes, instead of bakig for 25.)

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1/2 cup. Drizzle the breadcrumbs with olive oil, and pulse to combine. (Or, if you use breadcrumbs, just combine with oil in small bowl. No food processor needed)

Chop onion, tomatoes, and red bell pepper. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in the chopped eggplant, bell pepper, tomato, oregano, and garlic; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat; stir in feta cheese, parsley, salt, and black pepper. Stuff each eggplant shell with about ½ cup onion mixture; sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture.

Discard used foil from baking sheet and place eggplant-halves back on baking sheet with clean foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated and lightly browned.

Yield 4 servings. (Serving size = 1 stuffed eggplant half)

Nutritional Info: (per serving) Calories 178; Fat 5.5g; Protein 8.3g; Carb 28.4g; Fiber 8.5g; Chol 8mg; Iron 1.6mg; Sodium 749 mg; Calcium 126mg

Web Source: Lighten Up!
Original Source: Cooking Light Magazine - March 2004 pg 174
Photo Credit: Jaime Jeroszko (me!)