Mujadara in a Pita with Spicy Eggplant Sauce

I saw mujadara over at The Vegan Mouse, and my first thought was why have I never made this?? Lentils.......onions....rice??? This is cheap, this is easy, this is flavorful........it will help if you like the flavor of onions, and I really really do. You will find recipes for mujadara all over the web, I chose a simple one that involved only rice, lentils, salt, pepper, cumin, and onions...I added a bay leaf while it all cooked up, but other than that I followed the recipe pretty closely....I wish I could find that recipe now. It is bookmarked on my other computer. I will add it when I get the chance.

Mujadara is very tasty on it's own, but I wanted a little zing to make it into a pita sandwich the next day for lunch. I thinly sliced an eggplant and pan fried it in about 1tbs of oil over medium heat, along with one onion also thinly sliced and 1/2 tsp of salt. I cooked the eggplant for ten minutes, then flipped and cooked for ten more minutes. Then I added a jar of tomato paste mixed with one cup of water (make sure you lower the heat before you add this as it will splatter a good bit). I simmered this covered for about 20 minutes until the eggplant cooked into a mush (mmmmmmm eggplant mush). I removed it from the heat and added about 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, more salt, and a generous amount of cayenne. I actually think this sauce would be quite good on it's own as a dip for pita bread, or over rice. I was inspired by a Persian eggplant dish that I have been wanting to make for a while. However I was missing some key ingredients, so this was my compromise. You can use 1/2 cup of coconut milk to replace the heavy whipping cream.

In short this dish will be making the rotation, it is warm and comforting and I imagine it would be quite good in the summer months with some sort of cucumber yogurt sauce. Most of the onions are on the side, which appealed to my daughter, and it's super cheap which appeals to all of us. I heart lentils, how about you?