I love buying fresh fruit and vegetables from the farmers’ market, said Joe Yonan?in The Washington Post. But even when I know I’m going to be cooking only for myself, it’s “easy to go overboard” and pick up more than I can possibly eat in a week. “Have you seen the size of some of those squashes, melons, and cabbages?” Obviously, I’ve learned to make excellent use of leftovers.
Still, I figured that I could pick up a few tips about solo cooking from “renowned cookbook editor Judith Jones”—it was Jones, after all, who first discovered and edited Julia Child. Having spent the past several years, since her husband’s death, cooking primarily for herself, Jones was inspired to produce a new cookbook, The Pleasures of Cooking for One (Knopf). The 85-year-old even has a blog, Judithjonescooks.com.
Jones’ recipe for stuffed eggplant is a perfect “Moroccan-style dish for a solo cook”—and a wonderful use for leftover meat and rice. The heart of this meal, however, is the eggplant. If you like, it can be roasted a day in advance, then “cooled, covered, and refrigerated.” Be sure to find one that’s not too big: It should be “just 5 inches long—and perfectly sized for one.”
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Recipe of the week
Roasted Eggplant
1 small whole eggplant (about 5 inches long)
2 tsp pine nuts, toasted
½ cup cooked brown or white rice
½ cup cooked meat, finely chopped (preferably lamb; may substitute pork, beef, or leftover meatloaf)
1 scallion (white and light-green parts), finely chopped
2 small canned tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, squeezed and cut into small dice (about ¼ cup; may substitute 1 small fresh tomato, cut into small dice)
Pinch ground cinnamon
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 or 2 tbsp plain dried bread crumbs
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Toast pine nuts for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, in a dry, nonstick skillet over medium heat, until the nuts have browned evenly.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a small roasting pan with aluminum foil.
Prick the eggplant all over with a fork and place it in the pan. Roast for 35 minutes or until it is softened, but hasn’t fully collapsed. Let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.
Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, leaving at least a ½-inch border of skin and flesh all around. Chop the extracted flesh and add it to a medium bowl, along with the rice, meat, scallion, pine nuts, and tomatoes. Season with the cinnamon and the salt and pepper to taste; mix well.
Spoon the filling back into the eggplant shells, mounding it up in the middle, and arrange halves in the roasting pan. Sprinkle bread crumbs to taste on top of each, then drizzle with oil. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes or until the bread crumbs have browned.
