Turkey and Veg Eggplant Cups

So you might be wondering why I have been so MIA lately.. I moved. That's right..
I've been living in the middle of boxes and a pantry that has been emptying day by
day. Which ultimately means a lot of take out and eating out. Well i am back in my
new kitchen and ready to cook up a storm. I just read a new recipe on the latest
food and wine magazine that intrigued me a lot and decided to try it asap. It was a
stuffed eggplant with shitake mushrooms. It looked delicious and hearty so I decided
I would make it for dinner. Now does anyone know what is up with the missing
eggplants? I just spoke to a friend of mine who asked me the same thing. I had to
run to a few supermarkets to find an eggplant. I finally found a few Asian baby
eggplants and cooked those. I was so determined to make this dish. I made it my way
of course! Add-on the meat! I used regular mushrooms for cost savings, then added
ground turkey, Parmesan cheese, red onion, garlic, the works. Throw in the kitchen
sink too if you will!

So here is the preparation method.

Cut an eggplant in half and then on each half cross cut it so that it makes a square
like grid. Using a soup spoon, scoop out the flesh of the eggplant and save for the
filling.

Brush eggplant cup with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and put in the oven
at 400F. Bake till soft.

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat two tbsp of olive oil, add the chopped
mushrooms. Allow to cook till slightly soft. Don't crowd the pan or the mushrooms
will release water.

Then add chopped red onion, ground turkey and garlic.

Cook till meat is no longer pink. At this point the onion should be soft too.
Sprinkle some cumin and  Parmesan cheese and toss to coat. Take off the heat.

When eggplant cups are done, place some of the filling inside them and sprinkle with
more cheese.

Bake until cheese is melted.

Serve warm. Be careful, eggplant retains a lot of heat and can burn. Your mouth if
you are not careful!

I also decided to throw in a side dish with this eggplant which can take advantage
of the oven being on. I made sesame-seaweed sweet potato fries. Here is how:
Cut the sweet potatoes into even thin long strips. Spray with some olive oil and
toss to coat. Then sprinkle some sesame seeds and crushed up seaweed flakes.
Bake until the potatoes are soft.

Delicious! Try it tonight...find the eggplant first!