This is a fantastic recipe, given to me by a vegan friend, that is not only delightful in and of itself, but for meat craving individuals, it’s a fantastic transition dish that many, if not told, would not know that it did not contain any meat or cheese in the dish. My husband is a trained executive chef and is an omnivore. I doubt he will ever give up meat, but I do my best to make yummies that do not include meat and dairy as it is a kindness to the creatures. I’ve understood for some time now that our meat consumption wasnt sustainable and encouraged folks to eat meat 2x week or even 2 x a month if possible. We always bought organic and not off factory farms believing the animals were treated better. Not up until very recently, was I clued in that this really isn’t true. For dairy, the mother cows are repeatedly impregnated against their will, to produce milk for us. Their babies are taken away at birth and given powdered milk during their short sad lives. Cows are very social and create strong bonds with their offspring who typically remain with them for years. So I thought I would always eat cheese…but I cannot cause this level of harm and feel good about myself.
And the meat, well, even in the best case scenario, which is honestly few and very far between, we are taking a life that truly honestly really wants to live. They know what is happening, they shed tears, they feel upset, they feel fear. They also feel such joy when treated well and allowed to live a happy existence with us.
To this end and that of our health (of our bodies, our souls and the planet) I bring you this delightful dish! Enjoy!
I did modify the recipe a tad. I used corn starch for the bechamel sauce as I did not have potato starch. We couldn’t find smoked Tofu so I used Trader Joe’s Beef-Less Ground Beef. The texture of this product isn’t bad and it does look like the real thing. This product, by the way, is also terrific in tacos. If you don’t have a TJ nearby, this product, the Ultimate Beefless Ground, by Gardien is good.
For the spices, as this is typically a lamb dish, I used Rogan Josh which is a persian spice mix. The above link is less expensive, but there is also one from Penzys Spices, which is actually the one I used for the dish above, which is $13.23 and free shipping. But the other sounds great and is only $9.65 including the shipping. I post links in here to save you time and also money. I try to locate the highest quality and best price on Amazon prior to posting. 🙂 I adore this spice mix which has Cumin, Coriander, Cardamom, Cloves, Saffron and Cinnamon amongst other spices in it. The flavor profile of this spice mix just raises the dish to a new level and I sauteed my garlic and onions till almost caramelized, then I sauteed the spices to amp up that delightful flavour!
VEGAN MOUSSAKA
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS
Tomato Sauce
- 1 (28-ounces) can plum tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tsp maple syrup (optional)
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 12 ounces smoked tofu (firm)
- ⅛ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅛ ground black pepper
- a pinch of cayenne pepper
Eggplant
- 3 medium-size eggplants
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Bechamel
- 2 and ½ cups almond milk
- 2 tbsp potato starch
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
INSTRUCTIONS
- Drain the tomatoes into a bowl. Keep the juice.
- Cut the plum tomatoes into small pieces and add to a skillet with their juice.
- Heat over medium heat until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, maple syrup, salt, pepper and cinnamon and remove from heat.
- Wash and cut the eggplants into 1-inch think slices, brush slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Fry slices until tender and golden brown on both sides in a large non-stick skillet over medium-heat. Depending on your skillet you can probably fry about 5-6 slices at a time.
- Transfer the eggplant slices to paper towels.
- Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook until soft, about 7 minutes. Scramble the smoked tofu and add to the skillet, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, mix until everything is combined and remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Arrange a layer of half the eggplant slices in a greased baking dish (I used a 10-by-6 inch pan). Cover with the tomato/tofu sauce. Top with another layer of the remaining eggplant slices.
- Pour the bechamel over the top and spread evenly.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown.
- Top with chopped parsley.
For the bechamel
- Add ½ cup almond milk to a medium sauce pan. Mix in the potato starch, (or Corn Starch), nutritional yeast, salt and nutmeg. Whisk until everything is well combined and add the remaining milk. Heat over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, whisking constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat.
Thank you for the recipe. It sounds delicious
Ejnoy in great health! Making your own almond milk is also in here, easy peasy to do, for the bechamel sauce. It takes a bit to thicken so just keep stirring…when you make your own nut milk, only make what you will need for the week, don’t get too happy with it because it is not pasteurized and this means it contains all of the bioavailable yumminess that hasn’t been cooked to death out of it…and that also means short shelf life! And the Taste! Far better too plus you can control the depth of flavor, ie…do I want a 2% or a whole milk feel, all by how much water you add to that handful of raw almonds. If you shop Amazon, kindly click on my links, this is how I earn a living. And if you like something, please share. 🙂
So James, i wanted to follow up and see if you made this yummy dish? Let me know how you are doing and if finding thing in my blog, since you are a writer too, is easy, cumbersome etc. I try to make it easy but I am not a network engineer, LOL. I know how to basically type. 🙂
Could you share a few simple recipes that still zing with a “wow, that’s delicious”? I’m not a cook and the above recipe sounds amazing but also very time consuming and daunting. Just getting started vegan & need simple, delicious foods to try first.
Hi Elaine 🙂 I completely understand. I will actually be talking about some great vegan cookbooks I’ve discovered, in the next couple of days. Under the recipe tab (admittedly there needs to be more) Making nut milk is super easy. There is also a green juice recipe and that is easy too. Part of the issue on some of this stuff is getting the supplies that help get you started, blender, mixer, Cuisinart, nut bags, sprouter to grow sprouts for examples. The other bit is letting go of the deer in headlights and planning ahead. For this recipe, having made nut milk ahead of time. When I made this dish, I make a lot so I have it for a few days to enjoy but there are a few steps to it. When you get into the bechamel sauce, with your almond milk? It WILL thicken, but I always am surprised at how long that bit takes. So be patient. Some folks add layers of tofu to the mousaka but I leave the tofu out and just do layers of my eggplant. I will post the books up shortly. Meantime, some quick cooked meals I do are rice and beans and I love tostadas or tacos with beans instead of meat. I also have tried seitan (which I follow the Red Mills Gluten recipe on the back of the bag for) but my husband is not a fan. I do enjoy the seitan, which is upfront work, but freezes well and can be shaped and made into several flavour combinations. Amys makes a good vegan canned refried bean, just FYI. But if I plan ahead…not always happening for me, LOL, I soak my beans a long time so that they first sprout (get a tiny nub on some of the beans is all you need, that makes them more bioavailable) and then I cook them as usual, setting aside what I don’t need in the freezer for later. We do quite a few root veggies and one quick yummo thing you can do there is cut up your roots, (carrot, onion, potato, turnip, parsnip etc) turn your oven to 400, you can lay down foil on the sheet pan, spray lightly with oil, lay down your veggies, spray lightly with oil if you like and salt, pepper, garlic whatever spices, rosmary…bake for 30 minutes. This is so easy and I can eat my weight in this stuff.