Growing up I have fond memories of eggplant coming out of my grandparents backyard being readied for the evening's meal. Eggplant is versatile, packed full of flavor and an easy dish to master. Here is one of the many ways in which you can prepare it.

In this recipe we're going to stuff the eggplant. There are a few steps to it and if you get the concept of it you 'll not only be able to duplicate this one, you'll also be able to easily innovate your own.

Here's what you'll need in broad strokes:

However many eggplants you're going to stuff
A skillet
A baking dish
Some tasty things to stuff into the eggplant [It could be pretty much anything your heart desires.]
Some coarse sea salt
Some oil [I prefer olive]
Some tasty liquid
Some heat
Some time

For the purposes of this article I'll give you some ingredients to work with, but make sure you don't pigeonhole yourself into these ingredients. They could literally be anything you want that tastes good. So here you go:

Sauce
1/4 cup organic tomato paste
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup organic grade b maple syrup or 1/4 raisin paste
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp fresh bruised and chopped dill weed
1 tbsp fresh bruised and chopped cilantro
1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

Directions
1. Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth.


Stuffing
Oil [Olive preferably]
1 large brown onion chopped
2 large bell peppers sliced [any colors you want]
1 lb block of organic extra firm tofu [frozen, thawed and squeezed dry]
5 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
1 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 lb shredded dinosaur kale [or any other green of your liking]
The meat of the eggplants diced
1/2 lb feta cheese [dairy-free preferably]
Sea salt [to taste]

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash and cut your eggplants in half lengthwise,

3. hollow them out [leaving no more than 1/2 inch of meat on hollowed eggplant shells to which you've brushed with oil, seasoned and salted] and

4. dice the meat into 1 inch cubes. Salt them and put them to the side.

5. Heat your skillet and add enough oil to coat the bottom.

6. Add your onions and cook until they're soft and browning/caramelized.

7. Add your garlic and peppers toss a few times and immediately crumble in your tofu. Cook until tofu begins to brown and firm up in texture.

8. Add chipotle powder and kale then

9. rinse and add your eggplant meat. Toss until eggplant is translucent and add salt and feta.

10. Take off the heat, add sauce, stuff into eggplant shells, place in a baking dish, cover and put in oven.

11.Cook until tender and sizzling [usually about 30 - 45 minutes].

12.Serve alongside brown basmati rice or herbed bread, a nice fresh herbed salad and a thin yellow split pea soup.

Just looking at this recipe is making me hungry!

As always, it's been my pleasure to share these recipes with you. Until next time...