Moussaka

By Fredrica Syren:

Eggplant is not my favorite vegetable to cook with. I like eating it but really don’t know how to cook it. Well this week I received an eggplant with my CSA box so I took on the challenge and made something I used to like to eat before I became a vegan, moussaka. It’s a creamy dish, almost like lasagna but with eggplant instead of pasta. To make it vegan and healthy I made a lentil sauce instead of meat and used sun chokes (also from CSA box) to make a creamy béchamel sauce.

• 1 large eggplant
• 2 medium potatoes, sliced very thin
• For the lentil-tomato sauce:
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2  tbs sugar
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup boiling water or veggie broth
• 1/2 cup packed fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• For the béchamel sauce:
• 1 cup cooked sun chokes
• 1 ½ cup almond milk
• ¼ cup vegan sour cream
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to F400/200C
2. Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Arrange in layers in a colander, sprinkling salt between each layer. Let sit for at least 20 min (this releases and gets rid of bitter juices, so your eggplant won’t taste bitter in the end). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. After 20 min, pat dry eggplant rounds with paper towels to remove all of the juices released.
4. Arrange on a cookie tray in one layer. Spray with olive oil spray. Flip slices, and spray the other side.
5. Insert eggplant in the hot oven. Bake for 15 min, flip slices, and bake for another 10-12 min.
6. Once eggplant is done, take it out of the oven and reduce the heat to 375 degrees/ 175C

Lentil-tomato sauce:

• Heat a skillet with 1-2 Tbsp of water, add chopped onions and garlic. Cook for 5 min, stirring occasionally, until onion gets translucent.
• Add the rest of the sauce ingredients except spinach complete with boiling water and spices. Cook for about 20-25 min, stirring a few times. Once lentils are tender and all of the liquid is absorbed, stir in spinach and take the sauce off the heat.

Béchamel sauce:

Blend sun chokes, milk, sour cream, nutmeg, salt, and pepper until completely creamy

To assemble moussaka:

In an ovenproof 8″ by 8″ casserole dish, arrange all components in layers: lentil-tomato sauce, eggplant, lentil-tomato sauce, the thin sliced potatoes; lentil-tomato sauce, eggplant, lentil-tomato sauce, potatoes.