Falafel Stuffed Eggplant with Yogurt Mint Sauce

I love falafel and I love eggplant. Putting them together this intimately was one of the best things it ever happen in my kitchen. No exaggeration here. And topping it all up with a creamy and tangy yogurt sauce makes this combo even better. Sounds like vegan porn to me.

Here is how you make it:

Wash and dry 2 medium eggplants. Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise and score cut sides with a crosshatch pattern. Drizzle some olive oil and salt on the eggplant halves. Place them cut sides down, on a baking sheet lightly coated with olive oil. Bake at 475° for 7 minutes or until slightly tender.

While the eggplant halves are baking prepare the falafel mixture according to box directions–I used a whole box of Cashab Falafel Mix for this recipe and it was almost the perfect amount of stuffing. I overfilled mine halves and, if you love falafel as much as I do, you should overfilled yours too!

Remove from oven and carefully scoop out pulp, leaving a 3/4-inch shell. You can reserve the pulp for another use or you can shamelessly eat it right away just like it did!

  

Spoon the falafel mixture into each eggplant shell. Bake at 450° for 25-30 minutes or until the falafel is browned and crispy.

To make the Mint Yogurt Sauce, follow the recipe below. You can serve the sauce on the side or drizzle it all over the eggplant. Why not do both?

Since I made this recipe I keep thinking what else can I possibly stuff with falafel. I’m obsessed!

Yogurt Mint Sauce

Dominique for dealiciouscooking.com/blog

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup plain yogurt I used whole milk yogurt. No regrets!
  • ¼ cup minced mint
  • ½ clove garlic finely diced or grated
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • Salt to taste Start with a little and add as much as you like, always tasting in between. I'm horrible when it comes to salting my recipes. Still learning!

Instructions
 

  • Place yogurt, mint, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and cayenne in a small bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. It'll be best to let sit for 30 minutes but it can be served right away. Store on an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

 

Week 14: Still Costcoing

The Mexican Shepherd’s (Mex Shepx) pie was a sucess. Made with organic beef and veggies, topped with crumbled tortilla chips. This one dish meal will definitely make more appearances in our dinner table.

Star of the week: Green Beans with Turkey Bacon

Although our Costco trip was productive and our fridge is still full, I’ll be heading to the market later today. I’m planning to buy only extra ingredients for our week menu. Tonight we’ll make lasagna together. The kids really like assembling it and eating it!

As for the rest of the week, here is a rough menu:

Monday: Vegetable gnocchi soup and quesadillas or grilled cheese (Meatless Monday)

Tuesday: Lundberg Italian risotto with chicken and salad

Wednesday: ?

Thursday: Teriyaki Chicken Bowl with veggies

Friday: Gourmet

What’s in your table this week?

Week 13: Costco extravaganza

Week 13 menu starts tomorrow, Monday. The $210,87 worth of Costco food and food only, must cover this week and part of next weeks meals. Feature items in my fridge and freezer: Pears, papayas, organic ground beef, organic chicken breasts, organic spinach, organic spring mix salad, organic carrots, Roma tomatoes from Euro Farms (No pesticides), HUGE mushrooms, bread, more bread, Havarti cheese, Avocados, organic milk, organic peanut butter and strawberry jelly…If I could only have a Costco size fridge!

Monday: (Meatless Monday) Organic Salad and dirty quinoa

Tuesday: Mexican Shepherd’s pie and veggies

Wednesday: Pasta Primavera with creamed tofu sauce

Thursday: Left overs

Friday: Gourmet

Saturday: Bowling Alley birthday party

Sunday: Soup and Oven Bauru sandwiches (traditional Brazilian sandwich)

Week 10

It’s week 10. I’m genuinely happy about being committed to this blog and it’s purpose.  Having a planned menu based on the weekly deals has saved me time and money.  Our family has been eating even healthier after I started planning our meals and the kids are more adventurous about trying new foods and combinations.

The goal this week is to seek inspiration. Quite frankly, I’m a little tired of my own cooking. I think I need some food porn. Some inspiration coming from a source other than Food Network. Maybe is time to research some local cooking classes. I took classes at Christine’s Restaurant 4 years ago and suddenly my kitchen was a better place to be. I was more than inspired…I was possessed. I need that feeling again.

I’ve spent $51.00 at Sprouts and I’m anticipating at least $30.00 more until next Wednesday.

The list:

From Sprouts: Fresh wild caught Pacific salmon at $4.99 lb. Roma Tomatoes 77c lb. Kiwi 4 for $1.00. Green onions and cilantro 15c each. Cantaloupe 15c lb. Asparagus $1.99 lb. Candy corn.

From Ralphs: I’m skeptical about the $7.99 lb filet mignon, but it’s definitely a deal.

The Menu:

Wednesday: Baked salmon asparagus pasta with garlic Dijon mustard sauce

(Applegate Organic hotdogs and “Peas of Mind” broccoli oven fries for the kids)

Thursday:  Green Tea cold noodles with miso dressing and Teriyaki baked tofu

Friday: Gourmet pizza (possibly homemade)

Saturday: eat out/take out

Sunday: Friends over for dinner. Hawaiian food? BBQ?Cajun?

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Rice & beans Brazilian style with collard greens