I adore falafel and I adore eggplant, so you can imagine how much I love this Falafel-Stuffed Eggplant recipe! In my book, you can’t beat Middle Eastern cuisine for freshness and flavor. Falafel usually comes as a deep fried ball or patty of chickpeas and herbs – crunchy on the outside and fluffy and warm within. In this recipe, rather than deep-frying I stuff the eggplant with the falafel mix and bake it in the oven for a healthier home cooked meal.
It’s quite simple to make these stuffed eggplants, despite the long list of ingredients. I start by whisking up a quick tahini sauce. Then I prepare the eggplant and the falafel mixture. I load that mixture onto eggplant halves and bake them for a delicious meat free meal, packed with Middle Eastern flavor!
To make my Falafel-Stuffed Eggplant, you will need the following ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 475 °F and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Whisk warm water, tahini, lemon juice, honey, cumin and garlic together in a small bowl and set aside.
Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise. Score the flesh and place flesh side down on the baking sheet.
Bake the eggplant for about 7 minutes until slightly soft and browned. Remove from the oven and using a spoon, scoop out the pulp and flesh leaving a ¾ inch eggplant shell. Season the shells with ¼ teaspoon of salt.
Blend the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, onion, breadcrumbs, parsley, tahini, olive oil, spices, eggs, garlic and chickpeas together in a food processor until smooth.
Place ½ cup of chickpea mixture into each eggplant shell.
Cook in the oven at 475 °F for 25 minutes, until the eggplant halves are soft and tender and the falafel mixture is lightly browned.
Mix the tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil together in a bowl until fully combined.
To serve, place each eggplant half on individual plates. Top with relish and drizzle 1 ½ tablespoons of tahini sauce over each.
This Falafel-Stuffed Eggplant is super healthy and filled with flavors of the Middle East. Try it out soon and don’t forget to tag #cookmerecipes in your meat free cooking posts.
So delicious and healthy!
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