Vegan Lasagna: Pump up your Dome Part 2

Okay so you liked the bars idea? Well at least I hope you did as much as I did. So here is another amazing recipe that I love! A little modified, but inspired by Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, a great book FILLED with vegan ideas and recipes. Again, my new diet is not 100% vegan or raw, but I have chosen to include more of these kinds of recipes and foods into my diet. Going completely vegan and raw through the week, and eating meat and dairy on the weekends. (And yes I am repeating myself in case you didn’t read part 1 of Pump up your Dome). I have been doing it so far for a month, and I am loving the changes I feel, and see as a result of such a diet.

This recipe cannot fail! I love it so much it hurts!  I have made a few changes from the book, like the marinara sauce is my original recipe, and I DO add just a small sprinkle of cheddar cheese on the top. I just think it needs it for taste, but it’s not enough to make a dent in my diet. 

EVERYTHING YOU NEED: 

One Box Brown Rice Lasagna Noodles (I promise you will never use regular ones again, the taste it the same, and 100 times better for your body. 

One package of Tofu

Fresh Garlic

Olive oil

Fresh Oregano (measurements below)

Fresh Italian Parsley (measurements below)

Veggies of your choice (more info below)

Sea or Kosher salt

3 Cans of Hunts dice tomatoes all natural no salt added

One package of Smart Ground (imitation soy based beef, vegan)

Just a sprinkle of cheddar cheese (I like Sargento)

water (for boiling, lol)

A blender 

A hand blender or food processor

A nice large deep frying pan

A pan 

Stockpot (for boiling noodles)

13x9 inch pan (or for a smaller lasagna use a 9x9) preferably with lid, if not use foil

 Second, I hope you have a dish with a top, Corningware works, it can be small/medium in size, and preferable has a glass lid. If not foil works too. This is so the cheese doesn’t burn, but only melts. If you want to go completely vegan, you can make a delicious nut cheese instead of the cheddar. Which I will include in another blog coming up.

Tofu Ricotta ( Straight from the Skinny Bitch Book, it’s suggested you make this a week prior, but I have done both and it    makes no difference if you make it the night before, or a week prior. This stuff is SO good, it’s stupid.

 

16 ounces of Tofu (the Nayasoya lite firm is my favorite)

3 cloves garlic (chopped)

2 tablespoons of olive oil (extra or regular, it’s still good)

1 full Tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

¾ teaspoon sea salt, or Kosher

With a hand mixer or a food processor, put it all together and watch the magic happen. I use the hand mixer, I feel it’s faster, and I can get chunks that the processor misses.

Olivias super tasty super easy home made Sauce

(I originally came up with this recipe because my hubby doesn't like onions, but is okay with the green part of spring onions, this is the only sauce he will eat now, and asked me to make sure to write down how I make it):

3 Cans of Hunts all natural NO salt added diced tomatoes

2 cloves of fresh garlic (chopped up)

7 spring onions (just the green part)

1/2 of a cup of Italian parsley (roughly chopped and set aside)

1 tsp of Kosher salt (it had more flavor then regular salt)

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil, or for a creamer flavor and consistency add Coconut Oil.

A small bit of fresh oregano (to your liking)

Mean while in a stock pot add a little oil (of choice) and salt to the large pot of water and get it to a rolling boil. Once boiling, add all brown rice lasagna noodles.

While that is going on, dump one can of the tomatoes in a large deep pan,  and get it simmering, then add the garlic and onions, simmer until the water has evaporated and add the second can, wait till the water has evaporated again, and then add the third can and the salt and oil. After that has evaporated a good bit, and is nice and thick looking, turn off the heat, remove from stove and add in your Italian parsley.  Pour it all into a blender and puree.

Then you will add enough of the sauce to one package of Smart Ground Original flavor imitation ground beef. This is a pretty processed ingredient, so alot of hard core vegans do not use it, but I like it, and it works for the dish. Mush it up in a bowl with a good bit of sauce so it looks like sloppy joe texture. Set aside.

Mean while the pasta noodles should be done, or about done.

Veggies, I like a lot of veggies, but it’s up to you, you can add whatever you like. I use zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach, but again, it’s up to what you like. You can add more or less, I usually add one big zucchini, 2 cups of mushrooms, and a good about of spinach. Make sure you wilt the spinach however, because it has a LOT of water, and you don’t want soupy lasagna. I also leave the skin on my zucchini, lots of vitamins, but the choice is yours. Sometimes I add broccoli, asparagus (to make it interesting).  Whatever you choose just slice em nice so it all sits flat.

Line the bottom of your pan with a little sauce, then noodles, then more sauce, and layer your veggies. Then more noodles, then the tofu ricotta mixture, spread it all over. This part is up to you: After that I put the “ground beef” right on top of the ricotta, but if you want a separate layer of JUST ricotta you can do that too.  But I keep mine at two layers, making a smaller lasagna because Jason (the hubby) doesn’t like Lasagna. Put the last layer of noodles on the top, and cover with the rest of the sauce, and sprinkle a little cheese (or nut cheese, recipe to follow) on top. Place glass top or foil over the lasagna, and place in the oven at 350 F. Let is sit in oven for roughly 30 minutes, then uncover, and let it cook another 15. Then take out, let stand for a little bit, and dive in to guiltless flavor!