Stuffed Eggplant with creamy Balsamic dressing

I love love love this creation. It is so simple & easy, yet I feel so fancy & sophisticated eating it :-). As many of you know I rarely get "full" - so it is amazing that this fills my endless stomach & keeps me feeling full for hours! This makes a fantastic lunch, light dinner, or even side dish. You must try this one...you will be in love too.

A few quick notes...

• I like to keep a small amount of whole grain brown rice in a container in the fridge. You can quickly toss it with anything & having it already made makes it soooooooo easy to fix a meal quickly.
• I use vegan cream cheese or greek yogurt.You can use regular dairy cream cheese, but this is 100% just as delicious with vegan cream cheese :-). You should know that some vegan cream cheeses contain hydrogenated oils (yuck, I know). An equally wonderful & delicious option (however non vegan) is the greek yogurt.
• I am obsessed with my panini maker/indoor grill machine - no joke. I cook just about anything and everything on it. I suggest you get one - now! Don't spend a ton, I think the one I have now is from Target & I spend maybe $25 bucks. I like it because it has a dial you can adjust (nice little feature).
• I use shallots in this - and most things requiring an onion. I love the sweet taste of them & they add such flavor! You can find them by the ginger, garlic, etc. in your produce section. They are the superior onion in my opinion, ha ha!

What you will need...
1 medium Eggplant
1 medium shallot
1/2 cup pre-sliced baby Bella mushrooms
A handful of grape tomatoes (cut in half)
1 cup brown rice
1 tablespoon vegan cream cheese or fat free greek yogurt
1 tablespoon nice balsamic vinegar
course salt
fresh ground pepper
Fresh Basil (if you have it)

First, plug in your panini maker (set on medium if you have a dial option). In a saute pan mist with olive oil & add shallots & mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes - allowing the onion to brown.

While your onions & mushrooms are cooking, wash & dry your eggplant. Cut off the top & bottom - then slice into 1/4 slices long ways. Mist with oil oil, sprinkle with course salt & pepper. Place on the hot panini maker. I like the make a waffle pattern - so set on an angle and then switch directions halfway through.

Back to the saute dish - add in your rice & grape tomatoes. Toss around and let the rice and tomatoes brown up a bit. Remove from heat, and add a bit of salt & pepper.

In a cup or glass take 1 tablespoon cream cheese & 1 tablespoon vinegar. With a fork, whip them together until they become a smooth dressing like consistency.

Time to plate them up! Place a slice of eggplant on plate, then top with mushroom mixture. Drizzle dressing over top rice, and then top with another slice of eggplant. Finish with fresh ground pepper & fresh basil if you have it (thanks to the neighborhood deer, I have none!). If you are not vegan some freshly shaved Parmesan cheese would be ohhhhhh so good on top as well.

This makes approximately 2 "sandwiches". You can also serve them open faced as a side dish, and easily double the recipe to serve more. From start to finish you can have this completed in less than 10 minutes...and that includes several breaks for a sip of wine. Enjoy!!!!