Eggplant Pide (or Eggplant Boats)

Directions

1. Start by making the brown rice. Add 1 cup of water to ½ cup of rice and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
2. Heat up oven to 400F.
3. Cut each eggplant lengthwise and scoop out the middle. Save this “middle” part of the eggplant – we will cook it later.
4. Spray a little olive oil over the eggplants and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 25 mins.
5. While eggplants are baking, sauté garlic and onions over medium heat.
6. Chop the eggplants that we saved earlier and add it to the pan.
7. Add all the spices and stir.
8. Once eggplants start to get soft, add tomatoes and water. Stir, cover with lid, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes.
9. Add cooked brown basmati rice to the mixture along with red kidney beans and dill and stir. Take off the heat
10. Take the baked eggplant boats from the oven and start filling them in with the rice and veggie mixture
11. You can serve them just like that or pair with vegan tzatziki sauce or simplefit tahini dressing.