My blog posts have been few and far between since I started this crazy journey. At first I didn't feel good, so I stopped cooking as much and had a hard time sticking to my new vegan lifestyle. I started craving comfort foods like macaroni and cheese, pizza, ice cream (and any other dessert I could get my hands on) - and I wanted the real thing - no vegan substitutes.
So I went for it. I also started eating eggs as an easy way to get more protein. So, I guess I can say, I'm eating more as a vegetarian than a vegan these days. Although I do try to keep the dairy to a minimum. And as I started feeling better, I started cooking more, which makes it easier to get the protein and nutrients I need without resorting to too many animal products.
One of my latest experiments was a lasagna made with zucchini instead of noodles and a tofu ricotta. I had a bunch of zucchini that I was determined to use and I had seen a weight watchers recipe that used squash in place of noodles, so I decided to give it a try. I couldn't find one recipe that was exactly what I wanted so I took parts from a few different ones and put them together. And surpisingly it turned out great!
Vegan Zucchini Lasagna with Tofu Ricotta
3-4 zucchini
1 recipe Whole Foods tofu ricotta: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2756
2 1/2 cups marinara - see recipe below or you could use premade
I started with the tofu ricotta. The only ingredient I didn't have was tahini, but I did have sesame seeds, so I toasted them, broke out the mortar and pestle I bought (but haven't yet had the chance to use) and ground them up. I added a little canola oil until I got a tahini-like paste and voila!
I ended up using the food processor to get everything well combined.
For the marinara, I didn't have any premade sauce on hand, but I did have a can of tomato sauce - so I decided to try and doctor it up. Here's what I did:
Marinara sauce:
1/3 cup diced yellow onion
1 Tbsp olive or canola oil
1 can tomato sauce
4 soaked sun dried tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp agave
salt to taste
I started by sauting the onion in the oil in a medium sauce pan. Meanwhile I threw everything else in the food processor and pulsed until smooth. When the onions were soft and translucent, I added the marinara mixture to the sauce pan and let it simmer. It was pretty thick, so I added the water I had soaked the sundried tomatoes in to thin it out.
Then came the zucchini.
Zucchini lasagna noodles:
3-4 zucchini washed and ends trimmed off
salt for sprinkling
I started by trying to use a vegetable peeler to get thin strips, but they were coming out too thin, so I decided to just use a knife to slice them thinly. Next time, I might try my slicer dicer contraption, but the thing really scares me after I cut myself on it that one time...
As I sliced them, I layered them in a colander lined with paper towels and sprinkled them lightly with salt. I ended up with a few layers. This is supposed to help dry them out, but you are supposed to leave them for several hours and I was already ready to use them, so I just tried to press out the moisture. Not sure if it helped as the end product is very liquidy, but I thought it was worth a try.
Then I went to work layering the noodles, ricotta and sauce in a 9x9 glass pan.
I baked it covered with foil at 450 for 35 minutes, then removed the foil and baked for another 15 minutes. Like I mentioned, it was very liquidy, but some of it seemed to get absorded as it cooled.
The flavors were amazingly lasagna-like and it was very satisfying - the tofu added lots of protein so it's a great meal on it's own.
You could easily make this with regular ricotta if you are just trying to cut back on the carbs a little. And with premade sauce, it would be super simple!
I've made a few other fun things lately, so I'll try to get better about sharing more regularly - and give updates on the pregnancy.
Have a great rest of your weekeind!
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