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:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and place the racks one at the bottom and one at the second to the top
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Place the potatoes  in the bottom rack and bake for 20-25 minutes then flip the potatoes and bake for 20 minutes
5. Place the eggplants in the second to top and bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for 15 minutes
6. While you wait for the potatoes and eggplants, blend the tomatoes with an immersion blender, but don't over do it.
7. Saute the onions and garlic with some olive oil, add the spices
8. Add the tomatoes and let it cook on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes.
9. Place potatoes at the bottom, sprinkle some salt, top with eggplants, then cover everything with the tomato sauce
10. Bake everything together for 15 minutes before serving.

بالعافية