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Nutritionist and personal trainer Charbel Assaf runs Assaf  Lebanese Cuisine in Central. He has created a low-salt version of the classic Mediterranean dish moussaka. 
'The only additional salt is found in the tomato paste,' Assaf says. 'There's 25 milligrams in a 100-gram helping,' he says. That translates to about 10mg for this dish, which uses about 40 grams of tomato paste. 
Replacing salt was not difficult. The tomato paste is bolstered with garlic, onions, mixed herbs and thyme. Assaf used sumac, a tart, purple spice popular in the Middle East, to replicate a hint of the acidity salt usually provides. He suggests doubling the tomato paste if you can't find sumac in the supermarket. 
Cutting down on salt allows the true flavour of the other ingredients to come  through, he says.
Charbel's low-salt moussaka
 Serves 4
 Cooking time: 75 minutes
 3 large purple eggplants
 250 grams onions, diced
 3 garlic cloves, crushed
 3 tbsp vegetable oil 
 500g lean minced beef 
 50g green bell pepper, diced
 50g red bell pepper, diced
  21/2 tsp sumac
  11/2 tsp thyme
 1 tsp mixed herbs
 1 tsp ground black pepper
 1 tbsp tomato paste
 For the white sauce
 500ml milk
 2 tbsp corn starch 
 White pepper (pinch) 
 Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius 
Cut the eggplant in  1.5cm-thick slices. 
Grill in a non-stick pan until soft and set aside to cool.
Add vegetable oil, onions and crushed garlic to a pan on medium heat. 
Fry for  about three minutes or until the onions and garlic release their aroma. 
Add the minced beef and stir until browned. 
Add the green and red bell peppers, sumac, thyme, mixed herbs, tomato paste and black pepper to the mix.
Stir and simmer until peppers soften. 
 For the white sauce Dissolve the corn starch in 100ml of cold milk.
 Bring the rest of the milk to the boil.
 Add the white pepper and dissolved corn starch.
 Stir until it thickens.
Add about half the sauce to the baking tray. Top with a layer of eggplant, then a layer of beef.
 Add another layer of eggplant and beef. Top with a final layer of eggplant and the remaining sauce. 
Bake in a preheated oven at 200  degrees until the top turns golden brown. 
Serve with a green salad and balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing.



Moussaka makeover: take a fresh look at the Mediterranean classic