Barley-Vegetable Stuffed Eggplant

I haven't been blogging much, as we've have family in town, and I haven't done too much cooking. One night we didn't have plans with everyone, and I decided I wanted to make a "me" kind of dish. I had an eggplant that needed a purpose and I chose to stuff it, using some veggies I had on hand, along with a very small amount of leftover barley that's been just hanging around. I kept it meatless, but I think it also would be good with ground chicken/turkey, or some type of sausage.

I originally tried to find a recipe to follow, but couldn't find any one that I loved, so I just came up with my own, piecing together different ingredients and techniques from a handful of different ones. I was happy with how it came together- healthy, filling and delicious. Since Sage and his father were also having grilled chicken, I served them each half a stuffed eggplant, and had a whole one for myself along with salad. I should note that with this preparation, the shell of the eggplant was just for presentation, as it is too tough to eat, so make sure to carefully remove as much of the insides as possible, while still leaving the skin intact.

1/3 cup regular pearl barley
1 cup vegetable stock
1 medium eggplant
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 oz. button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
4 cups loosely packed baby spinach
1 roma tomato, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan

Bring barley and stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until barley is tender and water is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350. Slice eggplant in half, and drizzle cut sides with olive oil. Brush or rub to coat. Lay eggplant halves, cut side down in a baking dish, and bake for 25 minutes or until eggplants are tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

When eggplant is cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh, leaving a scant 1/4 inch thick shell. Transfer the scooped out eggplant to a cutting board and coarsely chopped. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Set aside. Return eggplant shells, skin side down, to baking dish.

Heat a skillet with 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat. Add pepper and onions with salt and pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Add chopped eggplant and cook for 5 minutes more. Add garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes and continue to cook for 3 more minutes.

Add barley and spinach to skillet mixture and stir to combine. Cover and turn off heat. Let sit for a few minutes to wilt spinach a little.

Spoon skillet mixture into eggplant shells, and top each one with half of the cheese. Bake for 12 minutes.