Disappearing Lasagna. {Chef AJ}

I don't care who you are... meat-eater or a plant-eater... this stuff is gooood! While we eat our plant-based dinners, my husband and I are always asking ourselves if this meal would satisfy a "normal" meat-eater. This is a for sure, a yes. It's from Chef AJ's book Unprocessed... and is the best nonmeat lasagna I've had. And I've made a lot. And it quite possibly could beat out my meat one. You for sure don't have the cheese and meat hangover with this one.

 

It is somewhat of a pain to make because of the long ingredient list and the different steps. BUT, I make double and freeze the other. It does awesome being baked right out of the freezer too.

2 boxes of no boil rice lasagna noodles (or whole wheat)

6 cups of your favorite marinara sauce

 

"ricotta"

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed OR 1 box extra firm water packed tofu (19 oz. each)

2 ounces of fresh basil

1 cup pine nuts, raw cashews or hemp seeds

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup low-sodium miso

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 pounds frozen, chopped spinach  OR 1 pound frozen kale (defrosted, drained with all liquid squeezed out)

 

Mushroom Mixture "Meat"

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds mushrooms, sliced (love crimini here)

1/4 cup low-sodium tamari

1 large red onion, finely diced

 

1 4oz. can sliced olives, rinsed and drained

faux parmesan (optional)

 

To make the "ricotta" filling in a food processor fitted with the "S" blade add the beans, basil, garlic, lemon juics, miso and nutritional yeast, pine nuts and red pepper flakes. Process until smooth. Add drained spinach/kale and process again.

 

In a large non-stick saute pan, saute the onion in 2 tablespoons water until translucent; about 8 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Add 2 cloves of garlic, the mushrooms and tamari and saute until browned. Taste mixture and add more garlic or tamari according to your taste. Cook until mushrooms appear to be glazed and there is no or very little liquid in the pan.

 

Pour 3 cups of the marinara in a 9x13 pan. Place one layer of the noodles on top. Cover the noodles with half of the ricotta mixture, then with half of the mushroom mixture. Place another layer of noodles on the mushroom mixture and add the remaining half of the ricotta and the remaining half of the musthroom mixture. Place one more layer of noodles on top of the mushroom mixture and smother evenly with the remaining marinara sauce. Sprinkle the sliced olives on top of the sauce alond with a liberal sprinkling of faux parmesan.

 

I like my dumbed down version...

3 cups marinara

noodles

1/2 ricotta

1/2 mushroom

noodles

1/2ricotta

1/2mushroom

noodles

remaining marinara

olives/faux parm

 

Bake uncovered in a preheated 375*F oven for an hour. Let sit 10 minutes before slicing. 

And... you're welcome! And Thank YOU Chef AJ!!

Vegan Reeses PB Cups. aka "Hockey Pucks"

This is another from Chef AJ in her book, Unprocessed. I totally agree with her on using dates as a sweetener... it's totally my favorite. The date paste makes the filling for these so creamy and sweet. SO yummy!! And with only 5 ingredients, can't beat it.

This recipe almost made 48 mini cups... I think it was a few shy of 2 full pans of them. The original recipe in the book she has you make the filling put it in a 24 piece silicone brownie pan, freeze, and then mold the filling around it. Hence the hockey puck name. My mom made them first and didn't like the 2 different steps and waiting time. So I changed it up. I think they're much cuter!

filling
1 cup date paste (below)
1 cup peanut butter, unsweetened and unsalted
1 tablespoon vanilla

crust
2 cups unsalted peanuts
1/2 cup raw cacao powder/cocoa powder (or to taste)
2 cups pitted dates
1 tablespoon vanilla

In a food processor fitted with the "S" blade, process crust ingredients until crumbly and all nuts are broken up. Fill mini muffin tins with liners and scoop 1 tablespoon of crust in and smoosh down and up the sides to form a crust. Kinda like a mini pie mold. Finish with the rest of the cups.

Wipe out the food processor and add the filling ingredients. Process until smooth and creamy. Put in a zip-lock and cut off the tip and fill each cup.

Freeze until firm or eat now... either way? Yum....

Unprocessed by Chef AJ

Date Paste

1 pound of pitted dates

1 cup of liquid (water, unsweetened non-dairy milk, unsweetened juice)

Soak dates in liquid overnight or for several hours until much of the liquid is absorbed. In food processor fitted with the "S" blade, process dates and liquid until completely smooth. Store date paste in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Crunch Hazelnut Macaroons.

These babies are from my new favorite raw website, KristensRaw. When I first posted about Shrek Shakes back in 2008 on  Lugubrious Delights, she commented on the post...

"I love love love this post :)

And, I love the name "Shrek Shakes." Brilliant!!!

Cheers, Kristen"

I don't know how she found it... but I felt totally cool that #1, someone commented on one of my recipes and called me brilliant (or at least the Shrek Shake name) #2, it was from a legit chef and #3, someone was complementing me on something new, and very unmainstream that I was trying to do for the benefit of my family. Obviously something that has become very dear to my heart.

Well, it took me a couple years to get back to her... and with the recommendation of these macaroon-beauts from a friend... I've found her again... and can't wait to try more of her recipes. So, thank you Crysta and Kristen, these are AMAZING!! 

They're my new favorite go-to freezer treat... and probably even edge out chocolate balls... though my raw banana cheesecake cups are such a close second.

I altered the amounts a little bit to stretch the more expensive ingredients and give me a cheaper bang for my buck! Her recipe is here.

1 1/2 cup hazelnuts*
1/2 cup raw chocolate powder
1 cup dried coconut, shredded & unsweetened
3/4 cup raw agave nectar
2/3 cup coconut butter/oil
1/4 cup raw cacao nibs {i used part of a cacao bar that I got in the baking section at walmart}
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt

Using a food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, grind the hazelnuts to a fairly medium/fine grind. Transfer to a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir all the ingredients together well by hand, or use a mixer with a paddle attachment to make it easier. {{After I ground the nuts, I just added everything to the food processor and pulsed everything all together. Which, I prefer because it breaks up the coconut so you don't have crazy coconut threads sprouting off each macaroon.}}

Use a tablespoon measurement to spoon out the batter and place on a cookie sheet {I like using a tablespoon size cookie scoop}. Freeze for up to an hour and enjoy.

*My favorite way to make these is with hazelnuts, but if you don't have those on hand, you could try other nuts or seeds.

Serving suggestion:

My favorite way to enjoy these is straight from the freezer or refrigerator. When I take them to a party, I put them in the host’s refrigerator, or freezer, until I’m ready to serve them. If they sit at room temperature they can get a little soft (but still yummy). An option to help prevent the softening at room temperature is to dehydrate them at 105 degrees for 16 - 24 hours right after you make them. ~~ from Kristen

Banana-Berry Oatmeal Bar

These are from a book by Kelly Freston, Quantum Wellness. Who, I'm not gonna lie, I saw on Oprah... and was interested to see more of what she was about. She had a lot of good stuff in her book - agreed on all of her food stuff. And if I didn't turn somewhere else for my spiritual well-being - I'd probably groove on a lot of her stuff.

BUT, her food was good. I'm excited to add this to my list of healthy snacks/treats and they freeze well. Which turns out to be awesome for me when I forget to close the freezer door, thawed out 3 bags of berries.... and needed to find something to do with them.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
1/3 cup agave nectar
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
1/3 cup chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 425*F.

Lightly grease a 13" x 9" baking pan.

In a large bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the agave nectar, bananas, and vanilla.

Gradually add the flour and oats, alternating, into the banana mixture until incorporated. If it is getting too thick, add vanilla soy milk. Fold in the berries and nuts.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 minutes or until golden (my Texas climate took 21 minutes - so watch 'em). Cool and cut into bars.

Makes 2 dozen.

Homemade Vegetable Broth

This is so easy to make it's ridiculous! I've been much more conscious of what's on a products ingredient list, and most broths (especially the pastes/cubes) have ingredients I don't understand at all and loads of salt.

It comes from the Veganomicon cookbook, which has some pretty good stuff in it... and I've decided it's almost worth buying it and not just using the ones I scanned in before I had to return it to the library.

V n/tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, skin included, roughly chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 parsnips, peeled and roughly choppednbv

I usually double or triple this recipe, put some in the fridge since I use it regularly... And the rest I put in ziplock bags/baby food containers in 1/2, 1, 2 and 3 cups increments, then freeze. Then pull it out the morning I need it, put it in the fridge to thaw and it's good to go.

What's awesome is that there's a teaspoon of salt in like 9 cups of broth. Awesome. I've changed the recipe up some each time I've made it. It's a great way to get rid of ripe veggies. I've put in celery, mushrooms, and herbs.