Fully Loaded Vegan Lasagna

This fully loaded vegan lasagna is a plant-based dish full of hearty, sautéd vegetables and a tofu ricotta cheese that everyone will love - even meat-eaters! 

My lasagna quest started at Aldi with a box of lentil noodles - they sounded interesting and I wanted to give them a try and honestly, I couldn’t remember the last time I made lasagna. As it turns out I’ve never made lasagna for Dan so it’s been about 17 years - yikes. In fairness, he made a raw lasagna for me once but forgot to rinse the spinach and it was so salty that we ended up tossing it. Later we took a raw food cooking class and got the recipe but for some reason, we never got around to making it. 

Our harvest is pretty much bottled, I made tomato sauce, jam and sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini fritters, and sauerkraut. We have butternut and acorn squash, fingerling potatoes, and kale - lots of kale in the fridge/pantry ready to be used. Last weekend I cleaned out the garden and flower beds and planted next year’s garlic - the cycle continues. We’ll definitely make some changes to the garden next year and move the peppers to the front where they get more sun - hopefully that will help them ripen. 

One of the reasons I don’t make lasagna is that it has all that cheese, which makes me super sick, and the vegan cheese - well let’s just say it doesn’t do much for me. It doesn’t really melt and the taste is - blah. And for those of you ready to tell me to try X, Y, or Z brand, believe me, I’ve tried it and didn’t like it. 

This lasagna took some prep but I cut down the time by using the tomato sauce I made a month or so ago and I used oven-ready noodles - there were still a lot of dishes - but hey dishes are not my job. I added some Field Roast Italian vegan sausages to the veggie mix and it really hit the spot. 

Ingredients:

Vegan Ricotta Cheese

16 ounces extra-firm tofu

1.5 tablespoons roasted garlic hummus

1 cup sautéed kale

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/4 teaspoon salt

Lasagna

7 - 8 lasagna noodles, you can use pre-cooked noodles

4 cups marinara sauce

1 cup onion, diced

1 zucchini, cut into quarters and chopped

1 red pepper - chopped

1 green pepper - chopped

2 field roast Italian sausages (vegan) - thinly sliced 

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 bay leaf

olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Bring a large saucepan with tomato sauce, basil, and bay leaf to a boil, then simmer while you prep the other ingredients.

Prep the rest of the ingredients and set aside.

Vegan Ricotta Cheese

Gently mix tofu, hummus, kale, nutritional yeast, salt, and lemon juice with your hands or a spatula until semi-smooth and resembles ricotta cheese.

Vegan Lasagna

Heat a large skillet with 1 1/2 tbsps of olive oil on medium-high heat. Sauté zucchini, peppers, vegan sausages, and onions with salt and pepper to taste for 4-6 minutes until tender and starting to brown. 

Cook the noodles until just al dente and set aside, laying flat in one layer. Skip this step if you are using pre-cooked noodles.

Assemble the Lasagna

Remove the bay leaf from the marinara sauce and spread about 1 1/2 cups in the bottom of a 9×9 inch baking dish. Top with 2 1/2 noodles (I sliced one in half lengthwise to cover the extra space). Then add a generous amount of ricotta, vegetables, and sauce, top with another layer of noodles, ricotta, vegetables, and sauce. Add one more layer of noodles and finish with a generous amount of sauce. You can top it with fresh chopped basil for extra flavor!

Cover lasagna with foil and bake for @ 40 minutes.

Tonight we had leftovers with a green salad - it was delicious!

Enjoy!

Home-made Ravioli - My First Attempt

It’s funny how quickly things change from Fall to blowing snow - sometimes on the same day. The summer garden has been put to bed, the garlic planted and the Halloween decorations are up. Not that we’ll have trick or treaters - but who knows. I’m thinking of tying a rope across the front porch and stuffing goodie bags with candy and clipping them on the rope with clothespins for a non-contact Halloween - we’ll see. 

A couple months ago I was looking for a pasta roller/maker. My stepdaughter has one and we’ve made the most delicious kinds of pasta at her house but that rolling by hand wasn’t quite what I had in mind. However, the attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer was crazy expensive but I found an off-brand that got very good reviews so I added it to my cart and before I knew it - the box had arrived. Now I had to use it and since it was a cold and windy day, pasta sounded like the perfect dinner option.

I'm going to say I got the pasta recipe from my stepdaughter and the recipe for the filling is partially from Bee Seasonal site. The sauce is my own, I just tossed things together until it looked good 

Fresh Egg Pasta

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 eggs - beaten

water

Instructions

Pulse flour in a food processor to remove any lumps. Add beaten eggs and process until the dough forms a round ball (@ 30  seconds). Turn out dough (and any little bits) on the counter and knead 1 - 2 minutes until the dough is smooth. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest 15 minutes to 2 hours.

Cut the dough into 5 pieces and roll out into sheets (follow pasta machine directions)

Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked butternut squash

3 ounces goat cheese

1T fresh herbs - I used rosemary and sage

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Bake squash in a 350-degree oven until you can easily pierce it with a fork - let cool. When cool scrape the flesh into the food processor and process, leaving some chunks. Add goat cheese, herbs, and salt and pepper, pulse to combine.

Putting it all together

Using the pasta machine roll the pasta sheets, dusting the surface with some flour all the time, so the pasta won’t stick to the surface. Put the filling from one side lengthwise, lightly brush the sides with water, and cover it with the side of the pasta sheet. Pinch the sides and cut the ravioli.

Bring to a boil salted water in a large pot and cook the ravioli for 3-4 minutes or until they float. 

Sauce

Ingredients:

1 medium onion - diced

1T olive oil

2T butter

sage leaves 

2 T walnuts, chopped

1 - 2 pears - chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 

In a large skillet, heat 1 T olive oil and 2 T butter, add the onion, and cook until translucent. Add the pears and walnuts and cook until the pear is softened but not mushy. Slowly add the cooked pasta and toss just until they are coated with the sauce, add sage leaves and serve. 

It took a long time but it was worth it, those little pillows of squash and goat cheese in the fresh dough were near perfection. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Green Tomato and Cheese Muffins

It’s been far too long since I’ve blogged and I have no good excuses for my absence so I won’t pretend to make one. There have been lots of things going on tho. Dan turned 60, the garden has gone crazy and we’ve been trying to soak up as much of the beautiful fall weather before it fades. 

We’ve had a few events on the deck with friends (sweaters and blankets provided), eaten at a couple trusted restaurants - outdoor seating only. And we’ve done some hiking near Taylors Falls and a long weekend at the North Shore. 

Amidst all of that I have been cooking - a lot! I made sauerkraut - with cabbage from the garden, tomato jam, tomato sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini fritters, and many, many kale salads. The squash is still ripening (this year we tried a new hybrid - honeynut butternut squash. From a food perspective, we are doing well - actually from every aspect, life is good. 

I’ve been working hard to incorporate vegetables from the garden into our daily meals; kale, collard greens, herbs, zucchini, tomatoes (lots and lots of tomatoes), peppers, and eggplant. But the temperatures are dropping and we finally took the plunge and brought in the squash and green tomatoes yesterday/today. So what do we do with all those green tomatoes - jam, relish, chutney, and today I tried green tomato and cheese muffins - they are so simple to make and while I haven’t tried them yet, they smell awesome. 

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped green tomato

3 tablespoons honey

3/4 cup milk - I used oat milk

1 egg

1/2 cup oil (I use Canola)

3/4 cup shredded or grated vegan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

Instructions:

In a large bowl combine tomatoes, honey, milk, egg, salt, cheese, and oil.   Mix with a spoon.  Add flour and baking powder to the mixture.  The batter will be lumpy.  Spray or grease a 12 cup muffin pan or use paper liners.   Fill cups about 3/4 full.   Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until brown on top.   

Enjoy - and since you spent time stopping by, I’ll share some photos of our latest food feasts. 

Tomato Jam - Bottling the Summer Harvest

I hope everyone is enjoying our beautiful September weather. We took a walk early this morning and noticed the first signs of Fall in the red sumac trees. We got the gutters cleaned out and then spent some time in the garden eyeing our peppers, which are not quite ready for harvest but damn they are close. 

Last week celebrated Dan’s 60th birthday COVID style. We had 2 celebrations; one with his siblings and one with his daughters so that we could keep everyone socially distanced and the count at about 10 people. It was fun we ordered food, his mom made his favorite carrot cake and celebrated. We are now both in the same decade and he’s ready to start earning those senior benefits - although he's not ready to retire anytime soon. 

Overall we’ve had a great harvest and we’re still picking zucchini, basil, kale, collard greens, and tomatoes - lots of tomatoes and there are still tons on the vine. We definitely need next week's sun and warmer temps to finish ripening them.

I’ve baked multiple tomato pies, made 4 batches of roasted tomato sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and now tomato jam, because what goes better with a toasted goat cheese sandwich that a smokey jam. 

I started with an assortment of tomatoes - dense and meaty heirlooms combined with Big Boy, Early Girl, and tossed in a few Roma to round things out. The heirlooms added a depth of flavor to the jam that I haven’t gotten in past years. This recipe is simple, the hard part is not eating it all at once.

Ingredients

1/2 tsp Coriander, dried

1/2 tsp Ginger, fresh

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 Onion - roughly chopped

4 lb Tomatoes - mixed 

1/8 cup Balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup Brown sugar

1 1/2 cup White sugar

1/8 cup Apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp Cumin, dried

Instructions:

Add everything to a stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer approximately 3 hours. Put in clean jars. The jam will last for 3 weeks in the fridge or longer in the freezer. 

Enjoy!

Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

The secret to getting perfect Chinese style eggplant involves two things

1. You have to prepare the eggplant properly before cooking in order to get the right texture
2. You need to make a sauce that is flavorful

We didn’t have a great year for eggplant but we did enough for a batch of our favorite eggplant in garlic sauce. Like tomatoes and peppers, eggplant likes warm weather and we’ve had our share of that but I don’t think the garden gives it enough sunlight. Come to think of it the peppers aren’t amazing this year either. I guess we either find a sunnier spot or find something else to plant.

I was prepping the eggplant when I got a text from Dan’s sister - they were getting new tires on their car and wanted to stop by our house and wait until it was done so I invited them to come over and have dinner with us. 

I pulled out some of the zucchini fritters I made/froze a couple weeks ago and preheated the oven for baking, chopped up some melon, and threw together a cheese board. Dan made Moscow mules and we enjoyed a spontaneous socially distanced dinner with family

There are pictures of the eggplant and fritters but we forgot to take photos of the appetizers - maybe next time. 

Eggplant is one of Dan's favorite foods and we've gotten this dish from a local place but wanted to try making our own. There is always room for improvement but I was pleased with how this turned out. 

Ingredients: 

Eggplant

5 small Chinese long eggplant, chopped to bite-size pieces 

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or soy sauce)

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce (*see footnote 3)

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Stir-fry

2 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Instructions: 

Place the eggplant in a large bowl and add water to cover. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, mix well.

Place a pot lid on top to keep the eggplant underwater for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry

After the eggplant is completely dry, sprinkle cornstarch over it and mix by hand, until the eggplant is evenly coated with a thin layer of cornstarch. This creates a crispy and nicely charred eggplant on the stovetop in 10 minutes. 

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and set aside

Add 2 tablespoons oil to a big nonstick skillet and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Spread eggplant across the bottom of the skillet without overlapping. Cook the eggplant one side at a time until all the surfaces are charred and the eggplant turns soft, 8 to 10 minutes in total. Transfer the eggplants to a plate. If the skillet gets too hot and starts to smoke, turn to medium heat.

Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon oil, the ginger, and garlic into the same skillet. Stir a few times until fragrant. Add all the eggplant back into the skillet. Mix the sauce again until cornstarch is fully dissolved and pour it over the eggplant. Immediately stir a few times, until the eggplant is evenly coated and the sauce thickens. Transfer everything to a big plate.

Serve hot as a side or as main over steamed rice or noodles.

Cucumber Libations

It’s another beautiful weekend in MN and we’ve been enjoying the outdoors as much as we can. Friday night we had a social distance happy hour with our friends Gerd and Maria and their dogs Keeper and Lilo. They have a lovely deck that overlooks the lake and we had a nice cool breeze before the clouds rolled in. We were lucky, we had a 2-hour visit before the rain decided to join us. 

Gerd has been experimenting with cocktails doing this pandemic - social distancing - stay outdoors, time. His new concoction - vodka poured over cucumbers and infused for 3 to 4 days, then mixed with club soda and a little basil for color. I really liked it and he and Dan added a little seven up for sweetness but I didn’t think it was needed. 

Our cucumbers continue to produce at a pretty good pace so I thought why not a cucumber lemonade right. In the afternoon we had it sans alcohol but then happy hour showed up and well we added a shot of vodka - it was really good. 

Ingredients:

4 lemons - peeled and seeded plus 1 additional lemon for garnish 

1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded - save additional cucumber slices for garnish 

5 sprigs of mint - leaves only 

1/3 cup agave 

6 cups water. 

Instructions:

Place peeled lemons, cucumbers, agave and mint in a high-speed blender, begin at a low speed, and then increase it until fully blended. If you use a Vitamix you can simply pour the mixture into a pitcher and add the water. If you do not use a Vitamix you will want to strain the mixture before adding the water. 

Server in a tall glass with ice, sliced cucumbers and lemons, and a little mint - it’s delicious and refreshing. For happy hour, add one shot of vodka. 

Summer Harvest Galette

Another beautiful week in St Louis Park and to add to the fun we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on the 6th of August. We skipped the in-restaurant dining and opted for takeout from our favorite Asian restaurant - we ordered green beans, spicy tofu, and garlic eggplant - we might have ordered a little extra - ok a lot - we had leftovers for 2 nights. And I baked a carrot cake! - I know right.

They say that people begin to look and act alike the longer they are together - do they also choose the same kind of greeting cards - must be true! For a long time, I collected all things flamingo but now that the house is full I’ve stopped - I’ve even gotten rid of some of the lesser loved items. They did go to good homes though. 

While we were celebrating the garden was doing its own thing - sometimes I can’t bring myself to go out there because I know there will be more cucumbers and zucchini - so much zucchini and all of it from a single plant.

On Friday I pulled out the basil and spent the morning making pesto and since I was on a cooking spree I shredded up one very large zucchini, some carrots, and onions and made 4 batches of fritters, which are now in the freezer. 

All this cooking one would think I have things under control - no so much. Today after our walk we decided to check out the garden before the rain came and came in with 2 more cucumbers, tomatoes, the last of the green beans, and greens. I guess I should be grateful it keeps me from having to go to the grocery store - so that’s good. 

In an effort to use up some of that wonderful produce I made a batch of marinated cucumbers and a Summer Vegetable Galette. 

Ingredients:

1 large onion - thinly sliced 

1 T olive oil

2 - 3 kinds of tomatoes - multiple colors add a nice look 

15 thin slices of zucchini 

1 ear of corn 

4 ounces goat cheese 

1 small thinly sliced potato 

fresh basil 

fresh rosemary

salt & pepper to taste

1 recipe pie crust. 

Instructions:

In a small pan, saute olive oil and onions until onions begin to caramelize. Make the pie crust and place it on a large baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375. 

Thinly slice potato and zucchini. Slice tomatoes and cut the kernels from 1 cob of corn. Chiffonade the basil and remove the rosemary from the stems and chop. 

Assemble the galette - begin with 1/2 of the goat cheese - break it up into small pieces and put it on the crust making sure you leave 1.5 inches of dough untouched. Add the layer of zucchini and thinly sliced potatoes. Add the caramelized onions, top with tomatoes, corn, and add the remainder of the goat cheese. Sprinkle the herbs, add salt and pepper to taste. 

Bake in the oven for 45 - 50 minutes - until crust is browned. Slice and serve with salad and marinated cucumbers. 

And for you crazy Pinterest people - stop with the Halloween decorations and pumpkin spice - I’m not ready!

Thanks for stopping by.