Lentils & Eggplant with Brown Rice

This is a full meal cooked entirely in a rice cooker. The onion sautes in a splash of sherry while you chop the rest: garlic, mushrooms, carrot, and cubes of peeled eggplant. Everything goes into the same pot, followed by lentils, texmati rice, tomato sauce, and vegetable stock, then the lid comes down and the machine does the rest.

What makes it work is the ratio. One cup of rice and one cup of lentils finish at roughly the same time in the same amount of liquid, and the eggplant melts into the sauce rather than staying spongy. The tomato sauce keeps the whole thing moist and coats every grain.

Kitchen Tips

• Salt the eggplant cubes for 15 minutes and pat dry before adding if your eggplant is large or old. This draws out any bitterness and firms the flesh so it holds its shape.
• Use brown or green lentils, never red or split. Red lentils break down into mush in 15 minutes and will turn this into porridge.
• If your rice cooker has a brown rice setting, use it. Texmati is a long-grain brown rice and needs the longer cook to soften properly.
• Let the pot rest with the lid on for 10 minutes after the cooker shuts off. The steam continues cooking the lentils and pulls everything together.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of smoked paprika and a pinch of cinnamon for a North African tilt.
• Stir a handful of baby spinach in at the end of the rest time so it wilts from residual heat.
• Finish with crumbled feta and a squeeze of lemon for a brighter Mediterranean version.