Vegan Lasagna–SO GOOD!!

Last week I made dinner.  Ok, it was a little more than that.  Actually, it was a lot more than that.

In response to my initial invitation/request on my “Beckie Lives and Learns” Facebook page to have people help me on my “living and learning” quest, one of my childhood friends replied and invited me to join her to prepare a healthy vegan dish.  (I had seen enough on Facebook to know that there was no way that I was going to pass this up!) The plan was to prepare vegan lasagna. I was thrilled! (I am a vegetarian. The rest of my family are carnivores. Making a delicious vegan dish is a win-win in that situation:  either everyone enjoys a dish together, or I get to enjoy a lot of wonderful leftovers and let the meat-eating members of the family fend for themselves for a few nights.)

Shari and I have known each other since kindergarten, and through Facebook, our recent high school reunion, and the fact that I occasionally run into her mom, we have been somewhat aware of each other’s general lives and activities, but we really have not spent quality time together in a very long time.  We spent the entire afternoon together. First of all, she was a great teacher! (Go, Shari!) I learned some new things which I will use in my kitchen, and I did not feel ridiculous in the process. Side by side, we each prepared a vegan lasagna. I just followed her, step by step. Afterwards, she asked if I would be interested in also making some delicious healthy cookies (there is no typo–the terms “delicious,” “healthy,” and “cookie” were ACCURATELY used together!)   Can anyone guess my response? THEY WERE SO GOOD!! (To keep you all coming back to my blog, I will post that recipe at a future date–just trying to build up the suspense.) We did not bake the lasagna at her house (it made more sense to bake it so that it would be done when we would be ready for dinner), but we did bake the cookies. That provided us with extra time to just sit and talk. In this day and age of technology, it is so easy to forget how enjoyable it can be to just talk and catch up.    Simple. We were sitting in a kitchen with a cup of tea and having a wonderful conversation.

That night, I baked the lasagna.  DELICIOUS!! I LOVED IT! My husband, a true carnivore, liked it.  My son said it was better than he had expected (I take that as a thumbs up from him), and my daughter wasn’t home that evening and never had the chance to try it.  Although I would need to pick up some ingredients which I do not usually have at home, I can easily see myself preparing this again and look forward to doing so soon!

Here is the recipe as Shari provided it to me:

Vegan Lasagna

Lasagna noodles  (I prefer Jovial 100% organic brown rice gluten free pasta lasagna noodles)
14 ounce extra firm tofu, pressed
25 ounce jar marinara, plus more as needed
2 cups raw spinach, chopped
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper
vegan cheese (I recommend Miyoko’s Mozz)

Preheat oven to 375.

Break tofu into crumbles.  
Add nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Add one cup of marinara to 9 X 12 pan.
Layer noodles
Layer 1/2 the tofu mixture
Layer 1/2 the spinach
Repeat layering sauce, noodles, tofu and spinach.
Finish with more sauce and add a layer of vegan cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and rest 10 minutes before serving.

(Check the packaging of the lasagna noodles.  The baking time may vary depending upon whether or not you boil the noodles.)

I am hoping to spend more time cooking and baking with others for a long time to come!

Shari, thanks again!