Brown Rice-Stuffed Eggplants

Translated and adapted from artistasargentinos.com

I adore eggplants. I’d have to say they are one of my favorite vegetables and I find them to be quite versatile. They are great in Greek dishes or just simply roasted. I found this recipe in an Argentine website and I loved the combination: eggplant with whole grains and cheese. It can’t get much better than that.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggplants
• 110g brown rice, uncooked
• ½ tablespoon oregano
• 50g cream cheese
• 50g Port Salut cheese (see Comments)

Ready for the oven!

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 420F (215C).
2. Wash the eggplants. Cut off the ends and cut them in half lengthwise. Cook them in boiling water or in a steamer in the microwave. Let cool.
3. When cool, spoon out the pulp. Make sure to leave the eggplant boats with a 1-centimeter rim so that they are easier to stuff later. Finely chop the eggplant pulp and set aside.
4. Cook the brown rice according to the package and let cool.
5. In a bowl, mix the eggplant pulp, rice, oregano, cream cheese and Port Salut cheese.
6. Place the eggplant boats into a baking dish. Spoon the filling generously into the eggplant boats.
7. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the filling is hot.

Comments: The original recipe actually makes double the amount, using 4 eggplants. I made half since it was just for my mom and I. However, keep in mind that they are very filling. Of course, it’s not at all a problem if you have leftovers; lunch for tomorrow! The original recipe also only uses cream cheese (or queso blanco as we call it in Argentina). I really wanted to add the Port Salut to the eggplants and I did half and half. Port Salut is a very common cheese in Argentina. It’s very soft and melts easily. It’s my favorite cheese for when we make empanadas but it’s not the easiest thing to find out of Argentina. I have found that a good substitute is Oaxaca cheese. You could also use mozzarella instead or some Emmental or Gruyère if you want the eggplants a bit sharper. One last tip: you can tell when the eggplants are well cooked (first step) by piercing them with a fork like you would with potatoes. If you can easily pierce the eggplant, it is ready.