Cheesy Vegetable Moussaka

20 Reviews
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Photo: Jason Wallis; Styling: Cindy Barr 
Hands-on Time
40 Mins
Total Time
1 Hour 30 Mins
Yield
Serves 6
By Sidney Fry, MS, RD
March 2014
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Broiling the eggplant coaxes out a deeper, more complex flavor. We like to keep the antioxidant-packed skin on, but feel free to peel the eggplant before broiling. You can garnish the dish with extra basil leaves.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 cups finely chopped onion
  • 6 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted tomato paste
  • 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 (28-ounce) can unsalted diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • 2 large eggplants, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 2 1/2 pounds)
  • Cooking spray
  • 3 (8-ounce) packages presliced mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
  • 1 1/2 cups plain fat-free Greek yogurt
  • 2.5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 2/3 cup)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 ounce vegetarian Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup)

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 335
  • Fat 11.9g
  • Satfat 4g
  • Monofat 5.1g
  • Polyfat 1.8g
  • Protein 20.6g
  • Carbohydrate 38g
  • Fiber 9.9g
  • Cholesterol 77mg
  • Iron 3.8mg
  • Sodium 586mg
  • Calcium 247mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; cook 6 minutes or until onion is tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Add 1 cup water, quinoa, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in basil.

Step 2

Preheat broiler to high.

Step 3

Place half of eggplant slices on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray; lightly coat both sides of eggplant slices with cooking spray. Broil 5 inches from heat for 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Repeat procedure with remaining eggplant. Set eggplant aside.

Step 4

Reduce oven temperature to 350°.

Step 5

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add mushrooms; cook 8 minutes. Add wine and soy sauce; simmer 4 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in dill.

Step 6

Combine yogurt, feta cheese, eggs, and egg white in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk until smooth.

Step 7

Spread half of the tomato sauce in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange half of eggplant slices over sauce. Spread mushroom mixture over eggplant; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over cheese; top with remaining eggplant slices. Spoon yogurt mixture evenly over eggplant. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until topping is lightly browned.

Chef's Notes

MyRecipes is working with Let's Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA's MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.

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Ratings & Reviews

liafinney's Review

liafinney
December 23, 2014
The main reason I tried this recipe is because I DO NOT LIKE quinoa! I figured the tomato sauce would hide the taste, and it did. That said, it was a very labor intensive dish for something not exactly over the top; although if I knew my guests were very meat aversive, I might offer this version up. I took other reviewers advice and upped the seasonings (something I normally do anyway with CL recipes) by adding more garlic, salt & pepper and using dried basil, oregano and red pepper flakes to the sauce. However, the yogurt feta topping really made this dish for me. I only broiled one side of the eggplant and put that side up in the baking dish when layering the components. I was a bit worried my 7x11 dish wasn't going to be large enough, but it was. I baked it about 10 min longer than the 45 min called for and let it sit in the oven after I turned it off for another 15 min and then 10 more min out of the oven. Topping became beautiful custard like and cut up beautifully!

Tharavn66's Review

magillesipe
October 25, 2014
I prefer another CL recipe instead of this one. Somehow, I didn't think this did it for me. Try this one instead...it's much better. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/vegetarian-moussaka

emanymton03's Review

kjpinto
April 08, 2014
This was not good. It certainly wasn't worth the effort. The final texture was very strange.

Fran0831's Review

suzyq4ku
March 28, 2014
Really loved the flavors in here. As the others said, prep was a bit complicated but i organized it in the order in the recipe and it worked out ok, A little watery from the sauce in the mushrooms but the flavor was great.

Kerrinhp's Review

Skittles
March 25, 2014
Recipe was labor intensive, but worth the time. It was very delicious and satisfied both the vegetarians and carnivore's at my house.

Lizbug's Review

Tharavn66
March 23, 2014
It's hard to find good vegetarian versions of moussaka, but this one is super delicious. A time consuming for a weeknight meal (eggplant took a decent amount of time to roast, cooking the quinoa, long baking time, etc.), but perfect for a comfort meal on a Sunday night. I love the tangy yogurt topping, I think it could work with goat cheese as well as feta.

CookingIsa's Review

ElixirSF
March 19, 2014
I LOVED this recipe. It took me over 2 hours, but it was worth it. Leftovers are even better. It makes 8 generous servings, so I froze individual portions for next week. Hopefully, it will freeze well. I will definitely be making this again- soon. Because the leftovers are so good-and it takes a couple of hours to make- I will make it during the weekend for a weekday dinner. I made a couple of changes-some by choice, others by error, but it still turned out great. I added chopped kale and chopped fresh tomatoes to the tomato sauce. I also used crushed tomatoes instead of diced. I substituted regular Parmesan cheese for the vegetarian version. I did not add the liquid from the mushrooms.Following the advice of a previous reviewers, I added 1-2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes and a touch of mozzarella. The eggplant came out soft, but not mushy.

roth1029's Review

Fran0831
March 10, 2014
This was a delicious and very filling recipe. I was a little confused about whether or not to include the liquid leftover from the mushroom/wine mixture, I did end up including it but most of it rose to the top so I drained it off. Next time I would probably leave out the liquid. Agree with others on the prep time. I had two cookie sheets going with the eggplant and it still took me 30 minutes jus to roast them, but I was simmering the tomato mixture in the meantime so it worked out fine.

ElixirSF's Review

Lizbug
March 08, 2014
N/A

KathJB's Review

emanymton03
March 06, 2014
I was looking for new Lenten dishes so I gave this a try. My husband and I liked it very much but I have some issues with the way the recipe was written. First, there is no way anyone could make this in 40 minutes prep time unless they had assistants. Two hours is closer when you count the clean up: I had 2 sauce pans, one skillet, a food processor, a baking sheet and the usual bowls, cutting boards etc. to wash. The reason I had 2 saucepans to wash is because I foolishly followed directions and prepared the tomato/quinoa mixture in medium saucepan. It filled the pan and I had to transfer it to a larger pan to boil it. (Be forewarned). And what's with the foil covered pan & three applications of "cooking spray"? I brushed the eggplant with a tiny bit of olive oil, it browned nicely and the pan was not hard to rinse off. Regardless off the effort it was delicious and I am looking forward to the leftovers. I will make it again but only when I have a lot of time.
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