Tomatoes can be stuffed with different spreads or ground crumbles. I used Morning Star crumbles or similar vegetarian ground “beef” and eggplant spread to stuff my tomatoes.
I love eggplants, don’t you? Eggplants are nutritious, high in fiber and low in calories. Plus they look so pretty, all purple and shiny and smooth. I just think eggplants are the best!
Stuffed tomatoes over a bed of lettuce – the taste of summer
Growing up in Romania, I am very familiar with “salata de vinete” or eggplant spread. You grill eggplants, then you peel off the skins under slow water. After you cut off the stems, you should let them sit in a colander in the sink, so they can let their juices drain.
Eggplant juice can be bitter and your spread will not taste good if you don’t allow them to drain. Just letting you know. Also, be careful with grilling eggplants. Sometimes they explode. Even if your grill has a cover, like mine, you don’t want to deal with the mess of an exploded eggplant. So poke them with a fork twice before putting them on the grill.
It goes without saying that you will have washed them before grilling them, right? Right.
Now, another thing. Eggplant stems can be pokey. Some are worse than others. So wear kitchen gloves or, if you have one, a silicone glove. That’s the best because you can easily wash it off plus it is thick enough to protect you.
Now that your eggplant is grilled, cleaned, and drained, you can place it in a food processor with a medium sized onion chopped up in big chunks and salt to taste. I would say one teaspoon of salt for five eggplants, but you should probably start with half a teaspoon and adjust to your liking.
Eggplant spread in food processor, ready to be stuffed into tomatoes
Pulse the processor until everything is smooth. Now you can turn it on and, while it is going on, pour oil slowly through the chute of your processor. Eggplants can absorb a lot of oil. I would not put more than one third cup of oil over five processed eggplants, but that’s just me. Adjust for salt again, as the oil has modified the taste.
Enjoy over crusty bread, with sliced tomatoes and peppers. The perfect summer meal and the taste of my childhood.
The other thing you can do is stuff tomatoes with it, especially if you are trying to stay away from bread and carbs. Slice off the top of a tomato, then scoop the insides with a grapefruit spoon. Stuff eggplant spread into the tomato, then cover with the “lid” you sliced off earlier. Enjoy over a bed of lettuce.
