Kristen's Memorable Lasagna

This was given to me by my good friend, Kristen. She recited from memory, her favorite recipe for lasagna as I wrote it down. I will never forget her kindness to me. This is in a bit different format than I usually write my posts, but I think you'll understand that she was also one of a kind. I will never forget her.

Sauce: Combine: onion, chopped & sautéed

        carrots, thinly sliced (mandolin is optional)

        prepared tomato sauce

        garlic &/ onion powder, optional

Pasta: Boil one package of lasagna noodles, preferably gluten free, made from brown rice, until al dente, not too soft! 

Creamy Cashew Cheese: Make one batch of creamy cashew cheese, by blending in a high powered blender until smooth the following

1 cup cashews, fermented if you choose

1/3 cup water

1/4 teaspoon garlic granules

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

Blend in a high powered blender until smooth.

Assemble in layers, a little bit of sauce on bottom of a 9”x13” pan, then the following:

1. 3 noodles

2. Sauce

3. Fresh spinach

4. Dollops of creamy cashew cheese 

5. Optional - vegan cheese

6. Repeat steps 1-5

7. Again, repeat steps 1-5

8. Repeat step 1 with the last 3 lasagna noodles 

9. Add the last of the sauce and any cashew cheese left. 

You can add any seasonings in the dish or as a topping before baking that you like. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-30 minutes, until bubbly and cheese is melted. Let rest for a few minutes, before cutting, so it will stay together better. 

Spicy Peanut-Free Sauce for Tofu, Pasta or Potatoes

This is a sauce recipe that I've used for quite a few meals. Mostly I've used it for a pasta and tofu dish similar to a much loved dish Pad Thai.

This makes a peanut-free version using almonds. But I have sometimes been short of the amount of almonds I need, so the recipe below shows the variation I used today. You can use mostly almonds and then make up the difference with other nuts or seeds. No big deal.

(By all means, if you use peanuts/peanut butter in your home, feel free to go ahead and use that instead. The recipe will still be delicious. Whatever nut or seed butter you use, please use unsalted varieties without other added ingredients. I like using whole nuts and seeds for a fresh, more raw sauce.)

If you have some tofu, bell pepper, some pasta, maybe some snow peas, you can make a great meal with this. The tofu can be cubed, then baked or broiled.

This recipe makes enough to dress a pound of pasta with veggies, etc on the side.

Spicy Peanut-Free Sauce

2/3 cup whole raw almonds OR 1/3 cup almond butter, unsalted (or other nut/seed butter)      
(I used a combination of almonds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds)
2 Tablespoons brown rice syrup (or 1 1/2 Tablespoon maple syrup)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce (can be soy-free with coconut aminos instead)
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar (can use apple cider vinegar)
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 Tablespoon tahini or sesame seeds
1 fresh garlic clove or 1/2 teaspoon dried granulated garlic
1 Tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon chili paste (or a mildly spicy curry paste) OR 1/4 teaspoon or less crushed red pepper
2 Tablespoons water, pasta water or vegetable broth

Throw this all into a good blender. Blend until smooth, only takes a couple of minutes. After you take this out of the blender, place the sauce into a bowl, then rinse the blender with about 1/4 cup of water and add it to the sauce. Don't forget this step! Otherwise it will be way too salty and extra thick. Mix together in bowl. Now it's ready to add to a pasta or potatoes or just about anything. You can even use it as a dip. This may taste a little salty on its own, but after you put it on pasta, etc, it should even out.
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Lasagna Bake

I've been trying some gluten free products lately. Some good, some ok and some I should stay away from if I'm going to continue my emphasis on whole foods and avoid overly processed foods.

Recently I tried some wide noodles made from potato. This was my first try at cooking these and I decided to try them using a recipe on the back. I've also been using some tofu again now and then. Seeing as how I needed to make it vegan (it called for cheese and eggs), I made some changes.

I'm pleased with how it turned out. It's made like the no-boil recipes for lasagna. You might be able to substitute other gluten-free noodles for this recipe, although you'll have to experiment and find what works for you. Please read the recipe thoroughly before gathering all your ingredients.

"Tastes Like Lasagna" Bake

1 recipe "stedda ricotta"
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tablespoons water
1-10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
3 cups tomato sauce (like spaghetti sauce)
1-9 oz. package gluten-free wide potato noodles
1/2 cup water

In a bowl mix together the "stedda ricotta", ground flax seed (already mixed with water), spinach, oregano, salt and pepper. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

At this point have all of your ingredients ready. You should have the spinach/"ricotta" mix (divided in half), nutritional yeast, tomato sauce (divided in half), dry noodles (also divided in half), and 1/2 cup water ready. I used a 9"x 13" pan, you can use a smaller pan for a taller finished product if you like. Oil your pan now (I used coconut oil and a little olive oil together).

Layer in this fashion, spreading evenly after each addition:
1/2 spinach/"ricotta" mix
1/2 dry noodles
1/2 tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 spinach/"ricotta" mix
1/2 dry noodles
1/2 tomato sauce
Pour the 1/2 cup water around the edges.

The recipe says to cover tightly with foil. Since I don't use foil, I covered it with a cookie sheet instead. Bake for one hour or until bubbly. Let stand for a few minutes before cutting.

Enjoy. Pass the crushed red pepper, please! =)

Quick Meal - Pasta Salad

Based on how my life has been lately, I need to have a quick meal idea handy. Although in ideal circumstances, I like to make things from scratch and always have the least processed foods to serve my family, lately I have kept some "convenience" foods like whole grain pasta, canned beans, and even (gasp!) minced garlic in a jar. =)

Today I made a pasta salad. This is what I had on hand: Whole wheat penne pasta, leftover cooked (long and slender) green beans, garlic, canned garbanzo beans (chick peas), carrot sticks, fresh broccoli, celery, 8-10 dried shitake mushrooms, and a small bottle of salad dressing (if I would've had onions, I would have added them too).

What I did:

Prepared the pasta in boiling water, drained and rinsed,
Cut the green beans up into shorter lengths,
Opened the jar on the garlic (see?=),
Drained and rinsed the canned beans,
Chopped the carrots,
Washed, trimmed, and blanched the broccoli in the boiling water before cooking the pasta, then drained and rinsed the broccoli,
Chopped up one stalk of celery finely,
Soaked, then sliced, the mushrooms.

Then I mixed everything together with the dressing. Chilled it until supper time. Then mixed once more before serving to mix the dressing again. If I hadn't had the bottled dressing, I would do the usual oil and vinegar (or lemon juice) and my homemade seasoned salt. I put the nutritional yeast on the table to top it off.

So for quick and convenient, this meal idea has saved the menu some days and helped use up those last bits of leftovers in the fridge. Even if the leftovers don't seem like much, a few beans here and some carrot sticks there give some nice color to a pasta salad.

Creamy Baked Macaroni & Cheese

In my pre-vegetarian days, I worked in a camp kitchen during the summers before I was married. I loved being at camp, both as a camper when I was younger and then working there when I was old enough. I helped cook and gleaned many loved recipes while working there.

One was an ultimate comfort food for children. Macaroni and cheese, of course. Since becoming vegan, it was fun to try it out without dairy. I came up with my vegan version of the favorite recipe we used at the camp. This is not without calories, I'll warn you. It's good once in a while though.
This recipe is a little different than most. It calls for a long and low baking time with uncooked pasta. There is no water in the recipe either. These parts of the recipe are unchanged by me. I think this is why I love this so much. It is very creamy and oh, so good. And it's nice to know that you have it in the oven and can catch up on other things while it bakes. I have used wheat free pasta: brown rice pasta and corn pasta, with good success. In fact, corn pasta seems to make it "buttery" tasting.

Creamy Baked Macaroni and (Vegan) Cheese

3 Tablespoons oil
2 1/2 cups uncooked macaroni, or 3 1/2 cups uncooked rotini
1 teaspoon homemade seasoned salt
dash cayenne
2 cups vegan cheese, shredded (1/2 pound)
1 quart unsweetened soy milk
liquid lecithin or oil

Use the liquid lecithin or oil to grease a 3 quart* casserole dish well (if you have it, lecithin works best, but oil can be substituted - just a warning, this does tend to stick). Using the baking dish, mix oil, pasta, and seasonings until coated. Add cheese and milk. Stir and bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 1 1/2 hours. Do not cover or stir during baking time. Keeping the door closed, turn off oven, but leave in an additional 1/2 hour. (total in oven time: 2 hours). Stir before serving.

*Note about size and shape of casserole dish. We used round and deep 3 quart casseroles (we served family style at all 10-12 tables). I find this to be a good thing, because there is less surface area at the top of the cooking food and less liquid evaporates. Remember, you are cooking the pasta in the oven and it will need to stay submerged as long as possible. I have made this in a 9x13 rectangular pan, but it dries out more quickly. Not really a problem per say, it's just better if you have a deeper dish.