Vegan Lasagna for the WIN!

One of my new favorite things about getting to know Bella, my boyfriend's daughter, is falling in love with her willingness to help cook. For Easter, my sister and I made a vegan lasagna (very-casual-super-easy recipe will be at the bottom of this post, rest assured!). We decided to make this lasagna again tonight for dinner, with great success all around. I personally credit the deliciousness of tonight's meal to Bella's insanely awesome tofu ricotta hand-mashing. If I'm being honest, at a certain part of the meal prep, I just let Bella run the show. I think I have a vegan chef in the making. 

As for the eating of our meal, it's no question that I thought the lasagna was kiss-worthy. But the big question remains - what did Matt & Bella think?

Matt loved it so much he ate two huge servings of it. WIN!

Bella liked it a lot and especially loved the Gardein beefless crumbles and the Daiya - WIN! She also said that she would have it again - but she asked for less tomato sauce next time. Spoken like a true chef. 

Alright, for the recipe!

SUPER EASY VEGAN LASAGNA

Ingredients:
Package of lasagna noodles
1-2 jars of tomato sauce (no dairy in it either, duh)
1 cup - or more! - of Daiya vegan cheese or any other vegan cheese ya fancy
1 package of Gardein beefless crumbles
Olive oil to coat pan for crumbles

For the tofu ricotta:

2 packages of firm tofu, drained - organic if possible!
Olive oil - drizzle as much as you want for a smooth consistency
Agave or Maple Syrup (or another vegan sweetener!) - a few drizzles to sweeten
Nutmeg - again, no exact measurement, but I say the more, the merrier!
Garlic, Salt, & Pepper - all to taste
1/2 a lemon's juice

Cook pasta according to directions on package. While pasta's cooking, place beefless crumbles in a medium-sized pan over some heated olive oil and cook until browned. Set aside. In a separate bowl, put ingredients for tofu ricotta in a big pile and - with clean hands! - mash the tofu & ingredients until you have a pretty smooth consistency, reminiscent of ricotta. I highly recommend you take a page out of the Lindsay Wolf vegan cookbook and trial & error the heck out of this ricotta. Taste it as you go, add whatever spices you like to make it taste yummy, and don't hesitate to get creative. (I hate measuring things, which is why I now stick to cooking rather than baking. It has served me very well come dinnertime.) 

Once pasta is cooked and drained, begin layering pasta in a lasagna pan as you normally would for lasagna with a layer of sauce, noodles, ricotta, crumbles, Daiya. Repeat until you are at the top of the pan. Add some sauce to the top and sprinkle Daiya over it. Cook at 375 degrees in an oven for 30-35 minutes with an aluminum foil top, then for 10 minutes without the aluminum to brown it. 

EAT & ENJOY!!!!!

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." 
- Walt Disney

Comments

Myra Wolf said…
So happy you posted the recipe! I have had this and it is delicious!! Matt and Bella are so accepting of anything new! Now that is beautiful! xo
Lindsay Wolf said…
Thanks Myra aka mom! ;-)