How to make vegetarian Moussaka

Mussaka is a popular dish in the Mediterranean countries. This is a basic vegetarian version, although there are different variations that use ground beef, lamb, or mix cooked chickpeas. It all depends on what you like in your dish.

Ingredients:
- 2 big eggplants sliced skin on
- canola oil for frying
-1 to 2 medium diced onion
- 4 medium size fresh or canned diced tomatoes
- small can of tomato paste
- salt and black pepper to taste
-1/2 to 1 cup water

Directions:
-Slice eggplants into 1/2 inch thick slices
-Sprinkle the eggplants slices with salt to draw the moisture out
-Deep fry in canola oil until golden brown in color
-Remove from pan, drain from oil over paper towels
-Saute the diced onions until they are a golden brown color
-Add tomato paste, water, salt and pepper and mix with the onions
-Layer the fried eggplants in the baking dish over the tomato sauce
-Top with diced or sliced tomatoes
-Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap
-Microwave the pan for at least 20 minutes
-Broil the top for a desired baked color

For a more conventional cooking method, follow instructions above and cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes in a 350-400 Fahrenheit degree oven (depending on your oven temperature) until the edges are turning brown and the tomato sauce looks and smells cooked! Remove the foil the last 5-10 minutes to brown the top.