The Conscientious Eater: Vegetable Vegan Lasagna

One of the main reasons I started this blog was to keep track of vegan recipes I've tried or created and to share with others the ones I think are pretty delicious. So far, most of the recipes I've shared are other people's creations or recipes that I've tweaked a little.

I hoped that as I continued to try out different recipes and do more research on vegan cooking that I would eventually get to the point where I could create my own vegan recipes...ones that are actually edible. While I'm not quite there yet, I CAN tell that my cooking has improved since I started writing this blog, and that's exciting! I've even created a couple of my own recipes that Brett and I would actually eat again. Score.

Going vegan forced me to try cooking with new ingredients. Even more so it forced me to use well known ingredients in new ways. Who knew cashew could be soaked and then blended with liquid to make a creamy sauce? Or that you could use dried fruit to naturally sweeten baked goods? Or that you could get your daily protein from plants? I know a lot of people know these things, but I had no clue.

I've loved the journey so far and lately have been even more encouraged as I've tried stepped out of my "cooking-comfort-zone" and experimented a lot more. This Vegetable Vegan Lasagna is an example of such experimenting, and I must say it turned out pretty delicious.

I had searched vegan lasagnas, but didn't quite find what I was looking for. So I decided to combine a lot of ideas from different recipes to make my own. This lasagna is really easy and the "ricotta" filling made from tofu, lemon juice and nutritional yeast tastes almost like the real thing. At least in my opinion. Brett loved it too and we both at the whole pan in a couple days.

Another great thing about this lasagna is that it is really light. You can eat two, whole pieces and still have room for some other sides.

Unfortunately I have yet to get a nice camera and the lighting in our house isn't good, so these pictures don't do the taste of this lasagna justice. I hope you try it out though and let me know what you think!

Vegetable Vegan Lasagna

(Serves 4-5)

Ingredients:

· 12 oz. whole wheat lasagna noodles (you’ll only use 9)

· Favorite jar of pasta sauce

· 1/4 cup chopped basil leaves

Filling:

· 1 lb. firm tofu

· 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

· 2 teaspoon lemon juice

· 1 teaspoon lemon zest

· 1/4 cup chopped parsley

· 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)

· 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (or more to taste)

Vegetables:

· 1/2 cup chopped onion

· 2 teaspoons minced garlic

· 1 medium zucchini squash, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

· 1 medium yellow squash, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

· 4 oz. mushrooms, chopped

· 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste)

Directions:

1. Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil and preheating your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Once the water boils, cook your lasagna noodles according to the directions on the package, 3-4 at a time. While they cook, start on the vegetables and “ricotta” filling.

3. Heat a large skillet to medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

4. Sautee the onions and the garlic until the onions are soft. Then add in the rest of the vegetable ingredients and saute until they are cooked through but still a little crisp.

5. As your vegetables cook, make the filling.

6. Place all of the filling ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. You can add more salt, pepper or nutritional yeast to your taste.

7. One you have all three elements prepped you can assemble the lasagna.

8. Using a 9 x 13 inch pan, spread about 1/4 of your pasta sauce on the bottom. Then lay three cooked, pasta noodles across the bottom to cover the whole pan. (If your noodles are short, you may need to cook one or two extra to cover the short ends.) Then spread half of the filling over the noodles and top with half of the cooked vegetables. Repeat again: sauce, noodles, filling, vegetables.

9. Finish the lasagna off with another layer of noodles and some pasta sauce.

10. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until heated through.

11. Cut into large pieces and dig in!

Note: You can easily double this recipe and just make a thicker lasagna which will serve about 8-10 people. When I make this recipe, I usually cut the lasagna into 9 pieces and people can eat two pieces each since it's so light.