Vegan Day 8, 9 & 10: Three Days, One Recipe

Before I blather about anything else, I need to discuss something. That Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter I bought at Super Target last week? Is EVIL. I am not a big "snacker." I don't eat much between meals. I don't take random bites of things every time I pass through the kitchen. I've worked hard to become a mindful eater and to take the time to enjoy all of my food either in meal or composed, planned snack form. But that peanut butter? Calls to me. It whispers my name as I walk by the cupboard, begging me to take a spoonful to sustain me in my long, arduous 11-step walk between the fridge and my couch. It invades my dreams at night, spinning elaborate tales of its deliciousness.

As a result? It's more than half gone. See what I mean? The peanut butter is evil. There is no other explanation. It must be stopped.

Besides attempting to remain calm in the face of extreme peanut butter temptation, my eats have been pretty lame in the past few days. I haven't had the motivation to cook anything elaborate lately, which is a shame because the vegetables from my CSA just keep getting better and better. They deserve more than lame (but tasty) salads and simple roasting. Tonight I finally got some inspiration and embarked on some actual cooking! It was all inspired, funnily enough, by something I picked up at the aforementioned Super Target of fabulosity:

No-cook whole wheat lasagna noodles! I didn't even know they made such a thing. Gorgeous. After eying the four (very) large squash in my CSA share that were still sitting in my crisper drawer today, I got the idea to make a lasagna-esque pasta bake using these noodles. I say lasagna-esque because, let's face it, lasagna isn't lasagna without cheese. This is a whole different animal. A lovely, delicious animal, but a different animal nonetheless.

Squash Pasta Bake

~8 sheets whole wheat lasagna
2 medium to large summer squash, sliced in 1/2 inch thick rounds
1/4 cup garlic scape pesto (or other pesto of choice)
1 cup tomato sauce*
1 tablespoon basil, chopped
2-3 tablespoons vegan parmesan cheeze

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spread 1/3 cup tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x6 casserole dish. Place enough pasta on sauce to completely cover surface area. Place 2 tablespoons of pesto on top of pasta, and then top with one layer of sliced squash. Place another layer of pasta on top of squash, evenly top with 1/3 cup tomato sauce and about half of the cheeze, and another layer of squash, the remaining 2 tablespoons of pesto and basil. Top with a final layer of pasta, the remaining tomato sauce and cheeze. Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes until pasta is tender. Makes 2 large servings.

*I made my own simple tomato sauce using garlic and onion from my CSA, a can of diced tomatoes, salt and pepper cooked and then blended in blender until smooth. Use whatever sauce you love.

I was really nervous putting this in the oven, but it turned out pretty well! I will say that, although I love the whole wheat no-boil noodles, I think this dish would work better with precooked noodles. It has less moisture because of the lack of ricotta so the noodles came out a bit chewy. Otherwise, it was great and I'll definitely be making it again. Next time I am going to add many more varieties of veggie because I think that will take it to a whole new level.

Oh, and about that vegan parmesan cheeze. It doesn't totally taste like parmesan, but it does add a good little nuttiness and salty tang like a real cheese. I enjoyed it! There's still nothing like a good, cheesy, old-fashioned lasagna, but this is a fun and tasty change.

Happy Saturday night, folks! I have a date with the Lifetime Movie Network. (I just found out my cable carrier is getting LMN in HD! It was like Christmas in July!)

Comments

[Pablo]

That looks pretty awesome! We got an e-mail last year from Alan with a recipe for what he called "potato cake". It is a layered dish. Potato, then chard and/or beet greens, then cheese, repeat 2 more times. We're not eating dairy right now, but we are eating meat, so yesterday we used a mixture of squash, carrots, beets, egg, and bacon in place of the cheese layer (cooked, covered, at 350 for an hour). It was great. It would have been just as good without the egg and bacon and with just a bit more oil.

[Carrie]

Pablo: That sounds really good. I have a billion potatoes still. I might have to give that a shot (sans meat)! Do you slice the potatoes thin?

[Pablo]

Yes, thin. I top it with a thin layer of potato too. I usually take the foil off after about an hour and broil for just a few minutes, maybe 5, then let sit for about 10. Also, I diced the other veggies pretty small, and sautéd them a bit first. I don't think you need to do that though, I just wanted the extra flavor.

[Ashley @ thehungryscholar]

I have a recipe that needs those noodles. Thanks for sharing!