Imam Bayildi

Y'all. Turkish Food. Yes.

Imam Bayildi has been at the top of my favorite foods list for some time and Kenan's wife makes THE BEST. Kenan was dangling it in my face last week that his wife was making some and yet, laughed in my face when I asked him to bring me some.

He told me to make my own. Rude.

I'm sure it was some sort of give-a-man-a-fish-blah-blah-blah life lesson, but all I gathered from the conversation was, "na-nee-na-nee-boo-boo."

So I rolled up my sleeves, swallowed my pride, and bought some eggplant. :|

Imam Bayildi is basically stuffed eggplant. Typically with tomatoes and onions - the version I like that Kenan's wife makes has ground beef in it, so I used that too. I adapted a recipe I found HERE.

Roasting the eggplant. I bought three HUGE American eggplants - I'll probably buy the smaller Italian versions next time (like the recipe says to do). I don't know why I insist on making my own rules.

The filling. YUM. I seasoned it with lots of Turkish seasoning and extra cumin because I LOVE cumin. After Kenan tasted my version, he said it was too much. But what does he know...

Eggplants after being hollowed out and filled back up!

Topped with tomatoes and ready to bake again!

I didn't realize it would require so much time! By the time I got done with this, dinner was at 10 PM. But, totally worth it! Serve it with a dab of Greek Yogurt or sour cream and it is perfection. I am also thinking of adding some grain to the filling next time - perhaps in the form of farro or quinoa.

I will definitely be making this again! Maybe with less cumin next time. Maybe.