Eggplant (& Corn & Tomatoes) in Eggplant

There is a lot to like about this, but there are a few things I would modify from the original recipe. I found that after 25 minutes in the oven, the vegetables got a little mushy, and there was no reason to put water on the bottom of the pan. None. It just made everything fall apart and did nothing to season the skin of the eggplant "boats." I would also leave out the oregano. Not a favorite spice. That being said, the actual vegetable mixture was very tasty. The eggplant is velvety and the corn and onions give it a crunch (a crunch that would be even more pronounced if it didn't cook as long as it did). The tomatoes add acid, and there were some beautiful tomatoes in this week's CSA shipment that added a bright orange to the dish. The recipe below includes changes that I'll make the next time. I mixed the leftovers with some whole wheat pasta, which is how I might just serve it next time.


Makes two servings
Total time to cook: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant, cut in half length-wise
1 ear of corn's worth of kernels (about 1 cup)
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup finely diced onions
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
Pepper
Shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella or really anything fairly mild will work)

Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Scoop out the meat of the eggplant (I cut the eggplant into 1-inch chunks without cutting the skin and then scooped it out using a wide spoon, starting at the wide end - voila, ready to cook cubes.)

- Put the eggplant "boats" into a small glass pan and brush them all over with 1 tbsp of olive oil.
- Season the inside of the boats with a little pepper.
- In a medium pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil.
- Add the eggplant, corn, tomato, onions and garlic.

- Season with a little pepper.
- Cook until the eggplant begins to soften and turn translucent, about five minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon so the juices stay behind, add the mixture to the boats until they're full.

- Cover with tin foil and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until heated through.
- Uncover and sprinkle cheese until the top is covered.

- Put the boats back in the oven until the cheese melts, no more than five minutes.
- Serve immediately, either in the boats, over rice or some other grain, or mix it with pasta (cut up the boat once it's emptied and add that too.)

Finally, Sky and I made a watermelon, feta and arugula salad on the side (guess what else was in this week's CSA shipment!). It's just 3/4 cup watermelon chunks and 1/8 cup crumbled feta on a bed of arugula, with some olive oil and vinegar. Simple and summery.