Sautéed Eggplant and Quinoa

There are a few essentials I always have in my pantry or fridge, one of which is quinoa.

At the start of each week, I normally cook a cup or two and leave it in the fridge. Quinoa should last up to a week and is just like rice to cook. We use it for so many things in our house hold – tossed through salads or toasted up with cauliflower rice. If I’m in a rush, I sometimes just mix a 1/4 cup with 50gms of cooked salmon and half an avocado – talk about instant meals!

Having quinoa precooked, and ready on hand, makes this recipe so unbelievably quick to prepare – the perfect weeknight alternative to rice or pasta.

Quinoa and sautéed eggplant
Serve’s 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

2 Eggplants
2 Tablespoons Oil
1 Cup Quinoa, cooked.

Add oil to the bottom of a wide pan and place on a low/medium heat. While the pan is heating up, dice the eggplant into cubes around the size of a thumb nail. Add the eggplant to the pan and turn the heat up to medium/high. The more spread out the eggplant, the faster it will cook.

Place a lid on the pan and stir every 3-5 minutes. This will help steam the eggplant, speeding up the cooking processes. After 10-15 minutes, the eggplant should have changed colour, with some turning crispy and slightly dark brown.

Turn off the heat and toss through the cooked quinoa, using the residual heat of the pan and stir through.

Once everything is fully combined, you’re ready to serve. If I’m having this with a meat sauce or paprika chicken, I sometimes finish the eggplant off by adding half the sauce to the pan and letting it soak up all the beautiful flavours.