This week I heard that I am to continue as a visiting lecturer in nutrition at the Department of Food Science at Leeds University for another three years. Great news as from time to time I need the use my training in nutrition for projects I am working on and I get to use the wonderful university library.
This week I have been coming up with more recipes for patients who are not able to eat fermentable carbohydrates which can cause bloating and pain in people with a sensitive gut. So without going into too much detail, here is a great recipe. This recipe does not contain any vegetable or cereal that may cause a problem. It is delicious and the sort of thing a whole family can share.
Meat eaters can add cooked minced or shredded lamb to the topping. In which case add some chopped fresh mint to the mixture to make the flavours sing out. One word of note ...please take care to cook the aubergine well. Undercooked aubergine gives this wonderful vegetable a bad name.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 aubergines
cooking salt
olive oil
200g quinoa
2 tbsp pine nuts
100g cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp chopped parsley
150g feta cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to garnish
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6. Cut the aubergines lengthways into 1.5cm thick strips and lay on a baking tray. Sprinkle with salt and leave for 15 minutes. This softens the flesh of the aubergine. Rinse the aubergine slices well under cold water and pat dry. Lightly oil a couple of large baking trays and lay the aubergine slices in rows. Dribble with a little olive oil and place in the oven to cook until tender for about 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile place the quinoa in a pan with twice the volume of water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the quinoa until just tender. This usually takes between 8 and 10 minutes
.
Drain the quinoa and place in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to your palate. Add a few more herbs and a little more feta cheese if you would like to.
When the aubergine slices are tender and beginning to turn golden brown remove from the oven and spread a tablespoon of quinoa mixture on the top of each aubergine slice. Return the aubergine slices to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes.
