Roasted Miso Eggplant with Wilted Kale Salad and Freekeh

Ingredients:
(Serves 4)

2 eggplants
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp miso paste
2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup soymilk
2 ½ cups of vegetable stock
1 cup of Freekeh
1 bunch of curly kale
1 lemon
1 tbsp salt
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method:

1) Preheat the oven 160° Celsius on fan bake.
2) Prepare the freekeh by rising it under cold water for 30 seconds then place it in a pot with 2 ½ cups of salted water or stock. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes until the water has almost evaporated, remove from the heat and cover. Let sit until ready to serve.
3) Slice the eggplant in half-length ways and score deeply into the eggplant using the cross hatched method, avoid cutting the skin if possible. Brush the eggplant with olive oil.
4) Combine the miso paste, sesame oil, and soy milk into a bowl and whisk together.
5) Place the eggplant on a lined baking tray and brush to scored tops with the marinade. Do not use all of the marinade as we will brush through cooking and use some at the end.
6) Cook for 15- 20 minutes until the eggplant is tender, pull the eggplant out at the 10 minute mark to brush with the marinade again.
7) Remove the kale stems and roughly chop the kale into bite size pieces.
8) Add the kale, lemon, salt, and oil into a bowl and massage the ingredients together (5 minutes). Let sit for 10-20 minutes before adding the sesame seeds and serving.

Serving suggestions:
This is best eaten fresh or reheated. The eggplant can be stored in the fridge for 3 days whereas, the freekeh and Kale salad can be stored for 5 days.

If you are gluten-free then you can use quinoa or brown rice.

If you are wanting to add more protein to this meal then add 2 cups of edamame beans to the kale salad (1/2 cup per person = 8grams of protein).

If you have people in your family who struggle to eat eggplant due to the texture I recommend you cut the eggplant into bite size cubes, place in the marinade, and then coat with either tapioca starch or corn flour and follow the same cooking directions above. This changes the texture of the eggplant.

Another method to change the texture of the eggplant is to cut, score it, and rub with salt as the salt pulls out the extra moisture. Leave the rubbed eggplant for 30-40 minutes before rubbing with the marinade and cooking.