GARFIELD'S FAVORITE GOES VEGAN! (lasagna)

Wow!  I found something great!   It started at a website where I found a recipe for vegan lasagna that was different from most - it has no tofu, no vegan cheese, and no expensive cashews for a cheese substitute, either.  The secret was a bechamel sauce used in place of cheese, which browns on top and is very thick and creamy like melted, gooey cheese!

That caught my eye.  I love lasagna and the thought of eating it without cheese now that I am trying to be vegan was just not pleasant -  I actually thought I might not eat lasagna again.  

So, I marked the site, read it again the next day and decided to get the ingredients on grocery day and try it.  I will have the link at the end of my recipe, but here I am going to present you with the version I made, which included making fresh sauce and using my personal selection of all fresh veggies.   Warning, it took a few hours, but was SO worth it!

Ve's Vegan Lasagna (the world's most perfect food according to Garfield the Cat)

INGREDIENTS
9 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 diced onion medium to large
1 package of fresh whole button mushrooms, sliced
1 large bag fresh spinach, sauteed until tender
1 medium eggplant, peeled, sliced 
2 large fresh broccoli heads trimmed, and chopped 

2 cups unsweetened plant milk (I use soy milk)
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

3 cans diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
Seasonings of choice for marinara sauce - I used oregano, basil, garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt and about 2 Tbsp sugar.

1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles

INSTRUCTIONS
Marinara sauce:  Place diced tomatoes in food processor and process to a thick, barely lumpy state.  Place in saucepan with tomato sauce and spices.  Simmer for about 20 minutes, until flavors are melded and sauce is fairly thick.  (I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes and it made just barely enough sauce to make the lasagna - so I have recommended 3 cans of diced tomatoes.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Veggies:  Use 2 tablespoons of olive oil to saute (fry) onions and mushrooms until soft and starting to brown.  Remove and set aside.

Steam broccoli until tender enough that florets will crumble readily.  Set aside.

Saute spinach until very tender in 2 Tbsp of olive oil, adding a spoonful or 2 of water as needed.  Cool, then chop.  Set aside.

Lightly coat a cookie sheet with 1 Tbsp of oil.  Place sliced eggplant on sheet and broil at 500 degrees until it is lightly browned.  Set aside.  

Bechamel sauce:  Combine plant milk and vegetable stock in a bowl.  Add remaining 4 Tbsp of olive oil to a pan over medium heat and sift in the flour.  Stir well.  Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring often until the flour begins to brown and gives off a nutty smell.  Add the plant milk mixture a little at a time and whisk really well until evaporated.  Continue adding liquid and keep stirring until you get a creamy sauce.  Stir in the nutritional yeast and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Heat until thick and creamy.  Remove from heat.  You want it to be smooth, so if lumps appear while cooking, you can press the sauce through a fine mesh strainer to break them up.  

Okay, now to build the lasagna:
Place a thin layer of tomato sauce and bechamel sauce in a 9 x 13 glass pan.  Next place a layer of lasagna noodles.  Next, layer the spinach over the noodles, followed by a thin layer of sauce.  Continue layering in the noodles with veggies, and sauce.  There should be enough bechamel for a bottom layer, middle layer (wherever you like) and a top finishing layer.  Spread the last layer of bechamel over the lasagna so that it covers the way melted cheese would.  

Cover with foil.  Bake for 30 minutes then remove foil and bake another 10 minutes.  If top is not brown enough, place under broiler for 2 to 3 minutes to complete browning.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 30 minutes before cutting.  

Here is the website for the inspirational recipe
http://www.cilantroandcitronella.com/vegan-lasagna

Sloppy Joe's To Be Proud Of

I have been jonesing for some sloppy joe's lately, ever since friends mentioned making them with mushrooms instead of the hamburger.  So, a couple of days ago, I jumped in there and tried my hand at vegan joe's.   They were scrumptious!!   I will be tweaking this recipe to perfect it with the sauce, but here is what I made:

Ve's Vegan Joe's

1 small onion, shredded ( I use a mini chopper)
1/2 bell pepper, shredded
2 medium carrots, shredded
1/2 cup water
2 small cans mushrooms, shredded
1 to 2 Tbsp cooking oil 
1 small can tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, pureed
salt, pepper; garlic to taste

2 Tbsp sugar

1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

Directions:
Add oil to pan and preheat.   Add onion, bell pepper, carrots, and water, stir, cover and cook over low heat, simmering for about 7 or 8 minutes.  Add tomato sauce, pureed tomato and all seasonings and continue to simmer for 3 or 4 more minutes, covered.  Add mushrooms.  Remove cover and keep on simmer until excess liquid is absorbed and mixture thickens.  Remove from heat.  Serve hot over bread of choice.

Brown Rice and Quinoa

Howdy 😊

Still in the quest of breakfast foods that are satisfying....

I made this one up myself.

Brown rice with quinoa and sometimes with mushrooms too.

In my rice cooker.

1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup quinoa
Add water to 1/2 cup more than rice cooker recommendations so the brown rice will be soft, not chewy.
1 small can of mushrooms, chopped. or 1/2 cup chopped fresh

Cook and serve while warm enough to melt your imitation butter of choice (IBOC).  Makes about 4 generous servings.

I dress mine with a bit of IBOC, some soy sauce, and some imitation bacon bits.

Very satisfying, indeed.  Also good as a side dish at dinner!

Popeye's Vegan?

Going vegan at Popeye's was not a particularly good idea. Two side orders and a biscuit cost $7. Richard's whole dinner that contained two pieces of chicken two side orders a biscuit and a soft drink was only 8.29! Next time I'll just order chicken dinner and take the chicken home for somebody else, maybe the dogs :-) but the side orders always tastes wonderful and the biscuits are heaven in my mouth!

So I guess it was worth it.

Afterthought, it wasn't vegan after all. The dirty rice has bits of meat in it, and the red beans and rice also does. Oh well it won't keep me awake tonight.  (Grin)

Breakfast of Champions

A year or so ago, maybe longer, my little brother gave me a very nice gift - a Breville juicer.   It is REALLY a nice one.   He had watched "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and fallen under the spell of juicing, and shared with me because he knows I love veggies.

I made a place of honor for that juicer on my kitchen counter, and I started to experiment with making juice.  I enjoyed some, and poured some down the drain.  After a while, I quit pulling the juicer out, and it has fallen into being a thing that takes up space but is only rarely useful.  

What a waste!

Yesterday, I pulled it forward to make some celery/carrot/apple juice - to use up the carrots and celery before they went bad.  Rich and I each had a nice glass of juice 😃

Of course, now that I am going vegan, breakfast is a challenge most days, and today was no different.  As soon as I got my day going (5:30 a.m.) I started, as usual, to wonder what I could fix for breakfast because I no longer eat the eggs that have for most of my years been a breakfast staple.  They are still in my fridge, but they are lasting longer than ever these days!

Oh, and I should  mention here that lately I too have been watching "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead."  Back to breakfast.....

I started off at 6:00 a.m. with coffee and 2 pieces of toasted home made French bread.  By 8:30 I was definitely in need of Second Breakfast.  

Yes!  I thought of juice!    I put in 1 bunch of kale, 1 cucumber, and 3 apples.  And I stirred in a pinch of powdered ginger. 

It made 2 medium-sized glasses of juice (one for Richard) and it was really, really good!  I was surprised, since my experimental kale recipes last year all went down the drain.  

Then, I topped that off by making some carrot/raisin salad.  I just ate 1 cup of it - put the rest away for tomorrow's breakfast.  Eating carrot/raisin salad is like eating Wheaties - you get lots of crunch and satisfaction from it.  

Gradually, I am finding new things for my vegan breakfasts, but it seems to be my biggest challenge in giving up animal foods. 

Happy veggies!
ve

DISCOVERING BREAKFAST OPTIONS

As a vegan, I need to adapt my breakfast.  It has been eggs for as long as I can remember.  Here are my recent happy findings for breakfast that make me not even miss eggs:

1. TOMATO BRUSCHETTA
No cheese, please, just tomatoes and bread. 

I used a can of fire-roasted tomatoes that already had Italian seasoning, drained and heated through, then placed on toast.  You can either drizzle a bit of olive oil in the tomatoes before heating, or on the bread before toasting (if you are oven toasting!) for a bit more body.  If not using olive oil, you can put a bit of the reserved tomato juice (always reserve the juice) on the toast just before serving.

**Quicker version:  Use store-bought marinara sauce, heated in microwave with a bit of sugar added if desired.
  
2. REFRIED BEANS AND VEGGIES

Ingredients:
2 flour tortillas, either soft or grilled
1/2 cup refried beans, seasoned
(I keep small dishes of refried beans (1 cup size) with a teaspoon of salsa ready to pop in the microwave all the time so I just used half of one of those)
1/2 cup chopped veggies of choice.  Mine were bell pepper, onion, and green tomato.

Saute veggies in a little oil until tender and turning brown.  
Warm the tortillas and warm the beans separately.  
Spread the 1/2 cup of beans on one tortilla.  Add cooked veggies on top and cover with second tortilla.  Cut in quarters and serve.

Mushroom Bacon

I heard this from somebody who said they got it from the tasty food channel.  Sorry, I don't know if that is a blog, YouTube, or something else.  But I am sharing this WONDERFUL food!  

Start with fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced.   Coat them with a bit of olive oil, not too thick.  Spread on a cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with soy sauce generously.

Place in preheated oven broiler (500 degrees) not too close to the broiler.  

Broil until very crispy (adjust to your own preference).

Yummy - they really do taste like bacon!

Update Time

Wow - it has been over 2 years since I used this blog site!

Well, life moves along and I have made some changes that made me want to revive it at long last.  

I am becoming vegan.  Not "I have become vegan" but "am becoming" because it will be an ongoing process for me.  

I will review my older posts to see what goodies I have posted here that I can revive for my new way of eating.  Some will need tweaking, I am sure.  

I have always been a veggie lover and this is just a natural step to take, I feel, so here we go!