| | My First Gluten Free and Vegan Lasagna
I know it has been awhile but I have been through a lot this past year. I have made a big switch to a more vegan way of life. I am not 100% vegan so there will still be some egg in my cakes and butter on occasion. I am also trying to avoid gluten which is much harder. I still have to buy a loaf of Great Harvest cinnamon loaf once in great while for a treat. I figure if I can eat 90-95% healthy then I am already in better shape than most of the nation. I have slowly lost weight (40 lbs!) and feel healthier than ever! So what better way to make a return than to introduce a new "gleegan" (gluten free and vegan!) friendly recipe? I am not big on using fake meats and cheese like products but for lasagna you kind of need some melted cheese. Right? So I asked of my veg friends what fake vegan cheeses they recommended. After much internet research and review reading as well I decided on mozzarella shreds buy a company called Daiya. It is totally good for you and tastes like a type of cheese but not really like mozzarella. It melts great though and when baked with the other ingredients in my lasagna it tasted awesome and was very cheesy. In fact I am pretty sure anyone would love this lasagna recipe.    I also used an organic Soy Boy Tofu product called Caribbean Tofu for the filling. I like my lasagna a bit spicy so it added just the right amount for me to enjoy. I can eat this stuff right out the package! For this recipe I ground it up and cooked it with some veges. Now for the pasta. Pasta has gluten right? Not this kind. I used a brand called Tinkyada. They make an organic, gluten free, brown rice lasagna noodle that is just great. It was not mushy or chewy. In fact I did not notice the difference between it and regular gluten noodles. 
Now like most of my greatest dinner meals I do not measure so I am going to give you the basic recipe for this yummy lasagna! I used a 8"x 12" baking pan. Ingredients 1 package Tinkyada gluten free noodles 1 package Soy Boy Caribbean Tofu 1 package Daiya shreaded mozzarella 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves about 2 cups chopped baby bellas 1 green pepper half of a medium yellow onion 2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp crushed red pepper 1 25.5 oz jar tomato sauce of choice 1 cup fresh spinach leaves plus 1 TBSP oil for boiling water, 1 TBSP for pan, and 1 TBSP for baking dish. Directions 1-Preheat oven to 400 F. 2-Fill pot with water and bring to boil add noodles and extra oil. I found that these noodles took longer to cook fully. Maybe 30 minutes. 3-Chop veges and add all to fry pan with oil and cook until tender. 4-Food process tofu block and then add to fry pan with veges. (except spinach) 5-Food process basil leaves and add half to fry pan with tofu mix. 6- Add garlic powder to fry pan and stir. 7- Put extra TBSP oil in baking dish then add layer of cooked noodles. 8- Next layer with tofu/vege mixture followed by thin spinach layer, sauce, some crushed pepper , cheese then noodles. Continuing until you get to the last set of noodles on top. 9- I only added sauce and basil on the top of mine but you can add more cheese as well. I was being cautious not sure how all the flavors would mix but I think it would be fine with cheese on top of some sauce with the remaining basil leaves scattered on top. 10- Bake for 30 minutes or until done. You can cover the top with tin foil if you do not want it to get too crusty. The next day it tastes even better! I added a few caper berries on mine when served and they were great with it! |
2 Comments
This is another recipe of my mothers that I make every year for Christmas. It is guaranteed to be a hit and have your family asking you to make more next year.
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By ChristineNurse, artist and blogging nut!  ArchivesMay 2013 |
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