Monday, August 15, 2011

Slow cooked eggplant with lentils and smokey paprika












This is the perfect vegetarian winter warmer, as winter winds down I still dream about slow cooking methods, lamb shanks and any grass fed lamb in a stew with a few spices. The recipe came together with all that was remaining in my fridge at the end of the week, as we wait for a new baby in our family everything has been on delay and soon I will be an Aunty again!

The nutritional benefits in eggplant are numerous, and even though its a deadly night shade it's great for people with no issues with inflammation, arthritis or acidity. Eggplant is used for women's health issues in chinese medicine and being 90% water hydrates and is low in calories. We love it at The Organic Cook and often just roast it with a light splash of extra virgin olive oil and celtic sea salt as a snack.



1 medium eggplant
1 cup brown lentils
2 cloves garlic, sliced finely
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 cups vegetarian stock (if not vego use beef broth for full flavour)
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 can organic diced tomatoes
Some fresh herbs, we used thyme from our garden


In a medium saucepan heat a small amount of clarified butter or ghee and saute the garlic, gently so it doesn't burn.
Cut the eggplant into 2cm squares and add to garlic, stir around, add the tomatoes, stock and thyme stir around, add the lentils and smokey paprika and give one more good stir. Cook on a low simmer for 45-50 minutes. Enjoy with bio dynamic brown rice or a good quality sourdough, because we were hungry we had both!

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