What a wonderful combination of flavors!  How did I arrive at this trio of cinnamon, eggplant and lentils?  It was the 3 ingredients selected for the February Royal Foodie Joust hosted by The Left Over Queen.  This fun event is open to all forum members to participate by getting creative with the selected ingredients and to cast a vote for their favorite recipe that best utilizes the three ingredients.  The previous months winner was Dharm so he had the honor of choosing this months three ingredients.  Voting is open from the first of February through the 5th.  Stop on by and cast your vote!

After I learned the three ingredients I immediately though of Chai and was going to do something like cook the lentils in Chai with extra cinnamon and maybe do a Chai rub for the eggplant and grill it.  My thinking then gravitated toward blackened eggplant with the intent of using as few extra ingredients as possible but still have a lot of flavor.  Doing a spice rub made a lot of sense and that is how my modified Jerk Rub came to be. 

What to do about the lentils?  I knew I wanted to cook the lentils with cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and lemon but needed something more.    Fennel was my answer, I knew it would impart its deliciously sweet licorice flavor into the lentils and compliment the cinnamon and spices. 

A peek in the pot when the lentils were just partially cooked. 

I wanted to have a little bit of a sweet sauce to contradict the Jerk Rub.  My concoction of an Orange Cinnamon Sauce was perfect and made a wonderful glaze to the spicy eggplant with just a touch of sweetness.

The finished dish was wonderful, and a meal I look forward to making again. 

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Cinnamon Jerk Eggplant & Lentils

1 eggplant

Jerk Rub

1 tablespoon coriander

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

freshly ground black pepper

Lentils

1 bulb fennel, minced

1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained

1 slice lemon

10 or so cloves

few cinnamon sticks

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Orange Cinnamon Sauce

½ large onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tablespoon ginger, minced

1 large orange, juice and zest

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 cinnamon stick

Combine all the spices for the Jerk Rub in a shallow bowl; set aside

Heat a sauce pan over low heat. When hot add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the minced fennel and salt to sweat. When the fennel is tender add lentils and enough water to cover the lentils. Stick the whole cloves into the lemon slice and add to the pot with the lentils along with the cinnamon sticks. Cover and allow the lentils to simmer until tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Heat a sauce pan over low heat. When hot add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the minced onion, garlic, ginger and salt to sweat. Once tender add in the orange juice, zest, pomegranate molasses, cinnamon stick and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Bring to a simmer, turn off heat, cover and set aside.

Slice the eggplant into about 1/2-inch slices. Baste each side of the eggplant slices with a little olive oil and dip each side in the Jerk Rub to coat generously. Heat a saute pan (I used cast iron) over medium heat. When good and hot add a little bit of olive oil and the eggplant slices and allow to cook for about 3 minutes. You want them to char or blacken. Flip them over and char the other side for 2-3 minutes. When nicely crisp pour the Orange Cinnamon Sauce over the eggplant. The sauce will evaporate pretty quickly leaving a nice glaze.

Plate your lentils (carefully discarding the lemon slice, cloves and cinnamon sticks, you don't want to accidently serve up a whole clove) and top with a few slices of eggplant.

Enjoy!