Meatless Monday: Vegetable Lasagna

 

So you probably know by now that I am a meat lover in the process of cutting back on and (eventually) giving up meat.   When, I ran across this recipe, I wondered just how good a lasagna would taste without the meat or pasta.  Well, I must admit this recipe for Veggie lasagna gets a thumbs up from me.

 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed, plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic, plus 2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

24 ounces canned crushed tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices

1 eggplant, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 medium yellow squash, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup button mushrooms, sliced 1/4-inch thick

2 portobello mushroom, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1/2 cup low-fat ricotta cheese

1 cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare tomato sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 4 cloves crushed garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add dried oregano, basil, and parsley and stir. Add crushed tomatoes and salt and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.

 Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and dried thyme. Place zucchini on a sheet pan and brush with olive oil mixture. Bake until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Marinate the eggplant and yellow squash in the remaining olive oil mixture for a few minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and saute until fragrant. Add sliced button mushrooms and saute until tender. Set aside. Meanwhile, place marinated vegetables in a roasting pan and roast in the oven for 10 minutes.

Line the bottom of a casserole dish with the baked zucchini slices. Add half of the eggplant and squash mixture. Top with half of the tomato sauce and then spread the ricotta cheese over. Arrange portobello slices over top and then sprinkle with half of the mozzarella. Top with the sauteed mushroom mixture. Top with remaining eggplant and squash mixture. Spread remaining tomato sauce over top. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and all of the Parmesan. Bake until the cheese is melted and brown, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.

 

(Recipe courtesy of Juan Carlos Cruz, The Food Network)

(Steak Image courtesy of The BusyBrain, Flickr)

Meatless Monday: Barbecue Tofu

 

Here's to a new week and another Meatless Monday recipe.  Remember, the purpose of the Meatless Monday movement is to help reduce the consumption of meat by 15%.  Doing so will improve your health as well as the health of our planet.

 

Barbecue Tofu

Ingredients:

2 pounds of firm tofu
Olive oil (as needed)
Tamari or raw soy sauce (as needed)
1 sliced onion
1 Tb black pepper
Natural barbecue sauce (see recipe below or use all natural store brand)

 

Cut the tofu blocks into ¼ inch thick slabs. In a shallow pan, marinade the tofu using a mixture of 1 part olive oil to 1 part tamari or raw soy sauce, so that there is just enough marinade to cover the tofu.

 

Slice the onion and put the slices on top of all the pieces of tofu and sprinkle black pepper over all the blocks of tofu. Allow the tofu to marinade for at least two hours, longer if possible (preferably overnight). Remove the tofu from the marinade and douse it with the barbecue sauce.

 

Right after you put the barbecue sauce on, place the tofu in the freezer and allow it to freeze solid. Once frozen, remove it from the freezer and broil it for 5 to 10 minutes. You can then make a sandwich out of it or put it inside a pita pocket along with your favorite toppings. Serves 4. (Adapted from 30 Days @ Delights of the Garden by Imar Hutchins.)

 

Natural Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

3-4 medium size tomatoes
10 sundried tomatoes
1 cup raisins
2 tsp vinegar
1 Tb tamari or raw soy sauce
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
2 Tb barbecue spice
1 tsp chili powder

 

Soak the sundried tomatoes in water for a couple of hours to allow them to get soft. Cut the tomatoes in fourths and place all ingredients in a food processor. Using the S blade, pulverize the contents until smooth.

 

This recipe was taken from the Blackvegetarians.org.  Submit your recipes

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