7lb Lasagna

  Before my husband and I became accidental vegetarians, there were foods I just thought wouldn’t work as vegetarian.  Lasanga wasn’t one of them.  Lasagna is better vegetarian!  Loads of pasta and cheese doesn’t need meat - it’s already heart-attack-a-licious.  

Vegan lasagna?  Meh. 

What’s left after you take the cheese out?  Tomatoes?  You want to replace the noodles with veggies too?  Kill me now!  Seriously, what’s left?

AMAZINGNESS.  That’s what’s left.  Trust me on this.  

Isn't she a beaut?  Bright and colourful, totally delicious and mega good for you.
You're thinking... did you actually weigh this lasagna, and I will let you know - yes, yes I did.  And the pan wasn't heavy glass or cast iron either

Not only is this lasagna vegan, it’s gluten free and jam-packed with vitamins, nutrients, and true blue goodness.  But really -  forget the labels: vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, and think of your tastebuds dancing like old-timey cartoons in your mouth.  That’s what’s going to happen when you take a bite of…..

7 lb Lasagna      

This is everything you need! 

2 butternut squash

4 large eggplant

6 small (or 4 large) zucchini 

1 jar of your choice pasta sauce, or homemade (see link)

1 pckg 275-300g raw cashews, soaked in water (soak for at least an hour, or overnight in the fridge)

fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350

Wash your produce (yes I wash the outside before cutting) and peel your eggplant.  

Zuchini and Eggplant factory. 

The first time I made this lasagna I left the skins on - but the kids weren’t too keen on having to chew them so vigorously.  If you’re only feeding adults, they may not mind - but considering my kids LOVE this lasagna and I’d like to keep it that way and I just cut the derned skins off.  

Slice the eggplant, and zucchini into thin “coins” and place on a baking tray.  No oil necessary.  Just bake for 20 minutes, flip over and bake for another 20.  I know some people are totally awesome and cut their zucchini and eggplant into strips like lasagna noodles, but they don’t bake nicely and are harder to handle.  While the eggplant and zucchini are baking, cut the squash down the centre (this can take some serious muscle, or just a decent kitchen knife - of which I have neither).  Scoop out the seeds and place face down in a casserole dish or cookie sheet.  There will be a lot of liquid that bakes out of the squash so if you use a cookie sheet you will just have to scrub it afterwards (I hate scrubbing cookie sheets because they don’t fit in the sink).  Bake squash for 50-60 minutes, until tender.  

Baked oatmeal leftovers.
1/4 is cranberry free for 1 picky eater.

I let everything cool on the counter while I’m making other yummy things.  This particular weekend I started the day with baked carrot oatmeal, made a batch of muffins, cookies and pizza (all vegan) and baked some homemade samosas that the kids loved!  I’m in mega love with Angela Liddon’s blog Oh She Glows and used her baked oatmeal, muffin and cookie recipes.  Her recipes often include maple syrup instead of sugar - but I’ve been replacing the syrup with figs and it’s awesome!  If something calls for 1/4 cup sugar or syrup I squish as many figs as I can into a 1/4 cup, and soak them in water for an hour or so before pulsing them in the food processor to make a sweet paste.  I add it 1 for 1 to the recipe and haven’t had any complaints.   

Empty the squash into a large bowl - they should just drop right out of their skins into the bowl.  If not, peel it out.   Mash it vigorously with a spoon so it’s creamy.  If you have roasted garlic hanging around throw some in - I didn’t, because I can’t keep roasted garlic out of my mouth for some reason.

Squash, cashew cheese and beautiful layers.

To make your cashew cheese, just take your soaked cashews and put them in a food processor.  Use freshly squeezed lemon juice to get things moving.  You could also add some oil or tahini to do that as well, but I just used fresh lemon juice -about two lemons worth.  The longer you soak your cashews, the better result you will have.  

When you’re ready to assemble and bake your lasagna prepare a large 11x11 pan.  Someone left a large metal pan at my house (does it belong to YOU?) so I used that with parchment paper - but normally I would use my glass pan, naked (no parchment or oil). 

. 

Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce.  I use this organic sauce because it has nothing but tomatoes, spices and other veggies (sometimes I get the one with carrots, etc.).  No sugar, nothing I can’t pronounce and no tin can.  Go ahead and use your favourite, but if you don’t have a fav - give this a try.  After you have a layer of sauce, add a layer of eggplant, layer of squash, zucchini and tomato sauce again.  Next, add your cashew “cheese”.  I wet my hands and pat small portions into flat discs I then place on the lasagna and continue to try to pat down.  Repeat this until the “cheese” is gone and you have a nice even layer.  Now add another layer of eggplant, this time adding the zucchini at the same time and another thin layer of sauce.  Top it all off with your last layer of butternut squash and bake for roughly 1 hour until it’s hot all the way through and you can see the sauce bubbling.  Let cool for what seems like a lifetime, but probably more like 20 minutes.  Cut into generous portions and eat the heck out of this tasty tasty lasagna.

This freezes like a boss - so if you want to pop it in the freezer in portions or before you bake it, go for it.  Not worrying about meat temperatures and reheating, etc. excludes guesswork and you can just do it.  Or just freeze it in this instance.  

If you're feeling up to it, a variation I do with this lasagne is to take 6 cups of spinach and cook it down with garlic and onion.  I add it just above the cheese layer and it adds so much flavour and all around wonderfulness.  Give it a try if you have the ingredients hanging around.  

Honestly, eating a dinner like this makes you feel like you can conquer the world!  There’s no undoing the button on your pants, laying on the couch and hating yourself for eating so much.  You can eat until you’re full and still feel great!  I LOVE that my kids love this recipe (it’s even funnier that they don’t like regular lasagna) and they helped me make it the last few times and know they’re eating eggplant and zucchini.  

My 1 yr old crying for a portion.  I should have let him eat some before trying to take a pic of the final product.

Bon Appe-7lb-tit!
Eww,  7 lb tit sounds so wrong.  Well, it's been typed and can't be erased.
Such is the finality of computers.  No backspace or delete buttons.
ahiodpjmkfldsa
Dern baby hit the keys again.  


Check out my post on homemade pizza to get my homemade sauce recipe

Bodacious Brussel Sprouts

 If it's possible to "pig out" on a veggie, this is what should be pigged out on.

I, like most normal people, HATED brussel sprouts.  Steamed bitter little bites of torture that you needed a pound of cheese just to stomach.  

Not these.

These oven roasted beauties are just as the title indicates - bodacious.  

 Bodacious Brussel Sprouts

Preheat oven to 350 (toaster oven)

So, if you've read any of my other blog posts you may have noticed that I am, if nothing else, frugal.  I don't turn my stove on during the week because energy costs are higher and I pinch absolutely every penny in our family budget.  The toaster oven is my go-to for most meals during the week.  Apple crisp, potatoes, veggies - all baked in the toaster oven.  Last night we had a "Southern meal" and I cooked the biscuits in a frying pan so I didn't have to turn the stove on.  I'm serious about saving money.

The point is, if you have a toaster oven find a pan that will fit in there so you can save on energy costs.  It's really senseless to turn the oven on for one small dish.  If you don't have a toaster oven, maybe whip up something else that needs to go in the oven so you're using it for more than one thing.  I power bake on the weekends, picking one day to keep the stove on and make all my yummy food that needs the big stove - pizza, lasagna, cookies, etc.  If you want to turn your stove on, knock yourself out, I just like sharing my money saving tips and I'm also very bossy.

Back to brussel sprouts....

1lb fresh brussel sprouts (approx. 4 cups)
1 tbsp oil (use your most fragrant oil - I used walnut, but you could use avocado, herb infused olive oil, etc.)

1/4 cup hazelnuts
1-2 tbsp maple syrup

Cut the bottoms of the sprouts off and slice each one in half.  Place in your baking pan (I used 7x11) and drizzle with oil.  You really don't need more than 1tbsp - don't negate the nutritional value of veggies by drowning them in oil.

Coat brussel sprouts in oil (just use a spatula and "mix" it) and pop into the oven for 15 minutes.

Turn the sprouts over and pop back into oven for 15 minutes.




While the sprouts are cooking for their second round of 15 minutes, get a pan of raw hazelnuts ready.  If you don't have hazelnuts grab almonds or cashews.  Really, though, if you're going grocery shopping - just get hazelnuts.  They are so good in this dish.

Before roasting nuts, pull sprouts out and drizzle with 1tbsp maple syrup (REAL stuff) - 2 tbsp max.  You don't want it too sweet.

Pop the tray of hazelnuts on TOP of the sprouts and put them both back in the oven.  Set the timer for 10 minutes.

You will smell these roasting and you will want to eat the whole tray.  Resist.  Or make extra.  I make extra because the kids smell them roasting and stand in the kitchen waiting to eat them.

After 10 minutes are up, turn toaster oven off and leave the sprouts inside to stay warm while you prep nuts.

Once the hazelnuts are roasted, simply rub them in a dishtowel to get the skins off.  A little tip from Oh She Glows.  I shake the towel outside afterwards and my chickens love the skins!  If you don't have chickens I'm sure birds and squirrels will enjoy them.

Put hazelnuts with the brussel sprouts and sprinkle with a bit of fresh sea salt and that's it!  This is a show stopping side dish, or if you're anything like me - the main course.

Bon-Bodacious-Appetite!

Vegan creamed corn..... better than my original recipe!

Pan baked biscuits and hummus coleslaw.  

I will share the rest of my vegan "Southern" feast recipes next week.  Boy oh boy was this meal a treat.  

Every last bit was gobbled up, and what the kids left on their plates (which wasn't much) my husband and I cleaned off!  

Sprouted Grain & Hummus Pizza. (Vegan)

I will admit when I was introduced to cold veggie pizza last year I fell in love.  Absolutely in love.  All the delicious fresh veggies on top are deceiving, however, and they do very little to balance out the junk food underneath.  I’m talking about Pillsbury croissants rolled into a pizza crust and topped with cream cheese.  It’s delicious.  Just not I need to run 10k to balance out this one slice delicious.  So, as with all things delicious - I tried putting a healthier spin on it.  It’s not so healthy you can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day - but it’s pretty derned healthy.  

Sprouted grain crust, hummus as the “sauce” and fresh veg toppings made for a flavourful and DELISH version of…

Cold Veggie Pizza

This recipe is so relaxed and versatile.  I keep my crust separate from the toppings and sauce until I'm ready to sit down and eat.  I'm sure it could be packed in a lunch, but I think the sooner you eat it after put together - the better. 

Crust

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp sugar (you can use any kind - honey, agave, something to feed the yeast)

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Mix water and sugar in a large bowl and sprinkle yeast on top.  Let sit for five minutes to make sure yeast isn’t “dead”.  It will look bubbly.  

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp seasoning (I used Costco’s organic no-salt seasoning) 

2 tbsp oil (olive oil works best, but you can use anything)

1 1/2 cups sprouted grain kamut flour

1 1/2 cups sprouted grain spelt flour

Up to 1 1/2 cups additional flour

Add salt, seasoning and oil to water and yeast mixture.  Add flour and use a large wooden spoon to mix.  You will quickly see how much more flour you need.  Depending on what climate you live in and what flour you use will greatly vary how much you need.  Regular all purpose flour is about 4 cups.  Spelt is only 3.  Don’t use a gluten free all purpose mix in this recipe, I’ve tried - it was terrible.  If you want to go the GF route, use Bob's Redmill Pizza dough mix.  It's badass.  

Knead your dough in the bowl a few times until it’s well blended and begins to spring back once you knead it.  You want your dough to be a little sticky but not cling to the sides of your bowl.  You may have read my tip in a previous post, but with breads the rule is “the wetter the better” so don’t add too much flour.  Cover the bowl with a wet dishcloth or saran wrap and leave for 30 minutes to an hour, until it’s doubled in size.  This depends on the temperature of your house of course. 

Preheat oven to 425.  This recipe will make two large 12-14 inch pizzas (depending on how thick you want your crust).  I like a very thin crust. I pressed mine down into a square shape because I wanted to cut the pieces into squares and not triangles.  If you don't use parchment paper - you should.  I just plop mine out of the bowl onto parchment paper and I'm ready to go.  If you refuse to use parchment, go ahead and grease & flour the cookie sheet.   When dough is ready bake for 10-12 minutes.  You can tell the bread is done as it will brown slightly and the edges will crisp up.  

Store bread in a large dishtowel once it's cool.  If you put it in a bag or tupperware it will lose some of its crunch.  

Toppings

I washed and cut romaine nice and small (you could also use a cheese grater).  I chopped up some green onions and cucumber and sliced tomatoes.  If it wasn’t the end of the week I would have liked to put on fresh mushrooms and peppers - but my little 3 year old is obsessed with both and eats them like they’re candy.  Anyways - put on whatever you have!  

Suggestions: baby kale, sprouts, broccoli, roasted garlic.....  

If you want to make your own hummus, it’s SUPER easy.   Super-duper easy.  

Hummus

1 can chickpeas, rinsed

1-2 lemons, juiced

Tahini (sesame seeds ground into a paste)

Optional add ins

- roasted garlic (the more the better)

- roasted red pepper

- salsa (oooh la la)

- cumin

- roasted jalepeno peppers (when I do this I sub lime juice for lemon juice)

Simply place your chickpeas, and roughly 1/4 cup Tahini in a food processor with the juice from one lemon.  Pulse for a while.  You are the boss of your own hummus so if you like it chunky so be it - but I like it smooth.  If you find you need more lemon juice, add as much as you’d like.  You can also add olive oil to get it smooth and keep the food processor from getting gunked up - I just prefer to keep mine oil free.  That’s it - definitely not worth paying $6.00 at the grocery store!  Ok, when I get store bought hummus I pay way less than that and buy what seems like an uneatable amount at Costco - but we eat it.  Every time.  No such thing as an uneatable amount of hummus at this house.

I'm not sure why I insist on embarrassing myself publicly ALL THE TIME but something about it makes me think it's endearing?  You'll like me because you KNOW you're better than me.  My lovely husband took these of me enjoying the pizza, and I kid you not - they are the best shots.  

Bonus Story:  I sat down with my second slice of pizza and said to my husband - "hey, we should get a pic of me eating them since I have a bra on and your'e home."  Those are real reasons.  He said "yeah".  So, I got the camera - sat down and handed it to him and got my pizza ready.  I sat and waited for a minute (or more) and then said, "Ron!"  He looked at me, dumbfounded, with the camera in his hands and said - "what do you want me to do with this thing?"
Yes, he really had no idea why he was holding a camera and why I was facing him holding (and not eating) my pizza.  Husbands!  

Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup (Vegan)

I really feel like this should be called "ingredient" soup.  It's so flexible (most soups are) - so if you don't have the exact veggies or amounts, just give it a try with what you DO have.  

This soup is the hilariously distant cousin to a soup my sister makes, the recipe she shared with me was the starting point for this recipe.  

Absolutely no enhancements necessary!  This is the vibrant colour of the finished soup!  So beautiful to look at, it does NOT disappoint when it hits your lips.

*Before you start*

You will need to roast or otherwise cook your veggies before making this soup.  I roasted veggies while the stove was on making pizza this weekend.  If you know me, you know I HATE turning the stove on for only one thing, so will pre-cook things for later or make other batches of things for the week.  I left the roasted veggies and garlic in my fridge for 4 days before finally making the soup.

Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup

Preheat oven to 425

2-3 Sweet Potatoes

5 Large Carrots

1 Head of Garlic

Cut sweet potato into even sized pieces and place on parchment paper lined cookie tray.  I left the skin on my potatoes while baking and took them off once cool - they peel right off with your fingers. Slice carrots in half lengthwise and place on the parchment lined cookie tray as well.  Using a small, oven safe baking dish (something for creme brûlée ideally) place your head of garlic and drizzle olive oil over it.  Bake your veggies for 20-40 minutes depending on how large you cut your pieces and how large the vegetables were to begin with!  The garlic shouldn't need more than the first 20 minutes to be soft, smell like heaven and be slightly brown.  Once garlic is cooled, peel off the "paper" and squeeze the garlic out.  

Here's what my veggies and garlic looked like after days in the fridge!

I love letting sweet vegetables get a little too dark on the edges.   When pulsed into something like a soup it adds a wonderful deep caramel flavour!  

I blended my carrots, sweet potato and garlic in my blender, but you could use a food processor OR use a potato masher (that's what my sister does).   I added to the blender:

1 can of coconut milk (accidentally bought light, but you could use either)

900 ml Vegetable stock

If you buy vegetable stock, good for you - I buy it a lot of the time too!  If you want to make your own, simply save scraps of veg - celery, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, etc.  Fill your biggest pot with water and all your vegetable scraps and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover the pot and let simmer for 3-4 hours.  This is a great way to control the flavour of your vegetable stock, and if you're concerned about sodium intake you can leave out the salt altogether!  

This is all I needed to make soup for 4 adult servings.  I forgot to move the vegetable stock over in to the pick, so imagine it off to the left.  :)

Once all your carrots, sweet potato, garlic, coconut milk and vegetable stock are blended, add:

1-2 tsp Curry Powder

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Ground Ginger

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

Transfer soup to a large pot to warm up.  Once the soup is warm, add 3/4 cup of natural nut butter.  I used almond butter, but you can use peanut butter or any other nut butter you have in the house.

That's it!  You're done and ready to dig in!  

Bon Appetit!

3 of my "Littles" fighting over the last bites of my soup I couldn't finish.  I guess they weren't fighting, they were actually sharing really nicely.  

My hubby and I are on different dinner schedules so when I was done blending I put in straight in the fridge in a tupperware container.  We each warmed up our own portions when it was our meal times and added a tbsp of almond butter once the soup was warmed.  

Hey, these are ACTUALLY good!

"Hey these are ACTUALLY good" Cookies

I love baking.  The only thing is, once something has been baked it inevitably gets eaten.  When I'm making pretzels, cookies and buns this can be a bad thing.  I want to be healthy and more importantly I want my kids to be healthy.  We limit our treats to Fridays, but throughout the rest of the week I get the urge to get creative in the kitchen and turn the oven on.  

You'll need a food processor or amazing blender to whip these up.

Preheat oven to 350.

3-4 ripe bananas

1 small can black beans

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa

Add first three ingredients to food processor, and blend thoroughly.  It will be quite runny, goopy looking.  

If you want to add a bit of sweetness, this is the time to do it.  If I have unsweetened applesauce I add about 1cup at this time (I didn't have any this batch and they were fine).  You could also add 1/4 cup of Agave nectar or even maple syrup if you need to slowly adjust your tastebuds (or your kids tastebuds) to a different kind of sweet cookie.

1-2 cups of uncooked quick oats

Starting with 1/2 cup at a time, add oats to mixture and pulse.  You will decide when there are enough oats to hold a "cookie" shape on your baking sheet.  I used 2 cups for a thick dense cookie.  

Optional: 

1 cup chocolate chips, carob chips or raisins.

When I first started making these I always had to add a few chocolate chips to entice the kids to eat it.  Last night when I made them, my 5 year old came running in to the kitchen to remind me NOT to put chocolate chips in half the batch!  

Scoop out 2inch balls of dough with a large spoon and just plop (ewww, better word anyone?) them onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes and enjoy at room temperature.

*If I have leftovers (I almost never do) I store them in the fridge.  If you choose to store them otherwise, simply place a clean dishtowel over them instead of plastic wrap as they are quite moist and you do not want them to mold* 

Enjoy!

ButterNut Squash Soup (Vegan)

ButterNut Squash Soup

That's not a typo - this is butternut squash and nut soup.  So delicious and almost impossible to mess up.   Local squash is plentiful and readily available so get creative and add some squash to your life!

I had my soup on it's own, and a tiny bowl really did the trick.  My hubby mixed his with an organic sprouted rice & quinoa mix from TruRoots.  This is so thick, it would be amazing on pasta as well.  

ButterNut Squash Soup

1 medium butternut squash

Coconut Oil

Vegetable stock (roughly 4 cups)

1 onion (you could use 4-5 shallots)

Garlic (I used 3 big cloves)

Almond (or any nut) butter

Seasonings to taste

The chickens loved the seeds I scooped out of the squash!  

Peel and cube butternut squash, and brown in 2tbsp coconut oil.  You will need the pan to be quite hot. Once there is a beautiful caramel colour on a few sides of each cube add 1-2 cups vegetable stock, lower the heat to low/medium and put a lid on pan to steam squash.  While squash is cooking sweat your onions in a tsp coconut oil.  When the squash is cooked (soft) remove it from the heat, and place cooked onions on it.  Use the onion pan to caramelize your garlic adding a tsp more coconut oil if needed.  Just squish each clove a little before putting in hot pan to brown each side.  Put a lid on and turn heat off after brown to soften the garlic up a bit.  Once the garlic is done put it on the squash and onions and leave pan to cool completely.  

Once everything is cool, put everything in a blender with enough vegetable stock to get it moving.  I put the blender on and did the dishes to let it really blend like crazy.  If you blend the squash hot, you will blow the lid off your blender and have squash on your ceiling.  Just wait until it's cooled.  

When I was transferring the mixture to a soup pot I thought to myself... oh crap, I just made baby food. Have no fear, you will have delicious soup - not baby food.  That being said, if you hate cooking - just start with a dozen jars of baby food and mix in some onions and garlic.  

Turn the pot of squash mixture to low and when it's warmed up add 1/2 cup of nut butter.  I used almond, but I'm sure any nut butter would do.  This is when you can decide how thick you'd like the soup to be.  I like soup that the spoon can stand up in, so I only added a cup of veggie stock.  When it's at your desired consistency - have a taste.  You might like it as is.   

I added, a pinch of salt and pepper.  Tasted it.  Added 2tbsp nutritional yeast.  Tasted it.  Added a teaspoon of cumin.  Tasted it.  Added 2 tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice.  Tasted it.  Perfecto!  You could add all sorts of fresh herbs and spices depending on what you have on hand and what you plan to serve it with.  If you're going to use it to top pasta, consider pan browning fresh rosemary and mixing it in.  

I knew I wanted soup and my hubby wanted squash so I spent a few minutes putting this together and now we both have a lovely, healthy soup in the fridge for the next few lunches and dinners.  I didn't have a recipe, I just went with what I had on hand and ended up with something delightful!  Get creative with cooking, trust your tastebuds and make something fresh and tasty for dinner tonight.