Healthy Vegan Moussaka مسقعة
Middle Eastern food, Lebanese food specifically is probably my favorite. It's full of flavor; garlic, lemon, herbs, and spices. So satisfying. The problem with Middle Eastern food is that it usually takes a long time to cook and has several steps. Have you ever tried to make stuffed grape leaves 'dolma'? It takes foreveerrr and you better be praying it turns out good. I made stuffed grape leaves once with my cousin, now when I eat them I make sure I will be 100% present with every bite I take. I became very appreciative of them.
This moussaka is a healthy and vegan version of the original. It's one of my favorite dishes! I've been making it at least once a week since I've been back. The best part is that it even tastes better the next day! I know there's a lot of steps in this recipe and it seems difficult, but trust me it's not! It's pretty simple actually.
Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 medium potatoes optional (double the eggplants instead)
- 8 small eggplants or 4-5 medium
- 5 medium tomatoes chopped
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 5 garlic cloves diced or minced
- +2 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tbsp Tumeric
- pinch of ginger
- Saudi buharat if available
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and place the racks one at the bottom and one at the second to the top
- Slice your potatoes and eggplants to about half an inch, make sure your slices are the same thickness. Make the potatoes slightly thicker than the eggplants.
- For best results, place oil on baking sheets and dip both sides of the slices in the oil. Or you can just grease the baking sheets and line the slices.
- Place the potatoes in the bottom rack and bake for 20-25 minutes then flip the potatoes and bake for 20 minutes
- Place the eggplants in the second to top and bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for 15 minutes
- While you wait for the potatoes and eggplants, blend the tomatoes with an immersion blender, but don't over do it.
- Saute the onions and garlic with some olive oil, add the spices
- Add the tomatoes and let it cook on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes.
- Place potatoes at the bottom, sprinkle some salt, top with eggplants, then cover everything with the tomato sauce
- Bake everything together for 15 minutes before serving.