I have discovered couscous only recently thanks to amazing food blogger Vianney Rodriguez from Sweet Life Bake (I have to thank Denise from Easy and Delish for accepting me into this food blogger roundup as well) and fell instantly in love with it.
I love the texture this ingredient gives meals, as well as its many health advantages, ease of preparation, and texture.
This classic North African dish comprises tiny durum wheat balls.
Amazingly, all you have to do to prepare them is add hot or boiling water to them and let them rest for a few minutes until they puff up.
Contrary to couscous, I’ve always been fascinated by the eggplant.
Couscous Stuffed Eggplant
Although I like preparing stuffed zucchini and bell peppers, eggplant was always my favorite vegetable to stuff because it is healthy, versatile, and very meaty.
And how I come to combine these two?
Well, it all happened one evening when I had no idea what to cook for dinner, and I wanted it to be something healthy because, just the night before, my boys and hubby talked me into ordering a large pepperoni pizza, and I felt so guilty about it.
Dinners should be light, especially when the weather is this warm.
So, I looked into my fridge and cabinets, and suddenly it came to me: couscous and eggplant make a perfect marriage. I found a couple of more ingredients to spice things up a bit and got my couscous stuffed eggplant recipe.
All of the ingredients are easy to find since there are not exactly a lot of them, but because of the two main ingredients, the texture is very rich.
However, if you feel like the recipe would benefit from some additional veggies or herbs, go for it – there is no way to ruin this dish. Besides, I would choose to fail in culinary endeavors a thousand times rather than play it safe every time.
Also, the very preparation is quick and easy.
I don’t know if you have ever tried to cut the eggplant in half and scoop it, but it is a one-move thing. Couscous is, as I already mentioned, practically done in two to three minutes, while sweet corn and black bean are bought canned.
Now, enough chitchat here is how to prepare couscous stuffed eggplant.
Enjoy it with your family to make it taste even better!
Couscous Stuffed Eggplant
A 30-minute dinner recipe for a light weeknight dinner.
It is an authentic Barbara-made-it-up dish, which combines the meaty eggplant, “ricey” couscous, sweet corn, black bean, and seasonings. It requires little salt and no oil.
Prep time: 5 – 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 – 25 minutes
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients:
- 2 medium-sized eggplant
- 1 cup couscous
- 3/4 sweet corn can
- 1/4 black bean can
- Salt and pepper to taste
- A pinch dried garlic
- A pinch dried parsley
- Soy sauce to taste.
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Cut the eggplants in halves (lengthwise) and then scoop out the center. Be sure to leave enough meat inside its skin so that it holds its shape. You can chop the scooped-out meat into cubes and freeze it for later use.
3. Season the eggplant halves with salt and leave them for three to four minutes.
4. Meanwhile, boil two cups of water and a pinch of salt. Remove the pot from the burner and pour the one cup of couscous. Leave to stand up to four minutes.
5. Mix the corn and beans in the couscous. Add pepper and dried garlic.
6. Cover a casserole with baking paper and place eggplants on it.
7. Stuff the eggplants with a couscous mixture.
8. Season with a bit of dried parsley.
9. Put everything into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Serve with some soy sauce on top.
Recipe Notes
As I said before, use your imagination with this dish. Add whatever you feel is missing or some ingredient you particularly like.
I think a bit of fresh basil on top would do a great job, but I didn’t have it on me when I was preparing this meal.
You can also add chicken or salmon in the stuffing or top everything with tomato and/or olives.