Cheesy Vegan Lasagna

I wanted some tasty cheesy lasagna. But how to make it vegan?

I used this recipe as a basis for my inspiration. However, it calls for "2-3 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce," and I wanted to make my own sauce. So here is my version:

Ingredients:

1-2 16 oz bags of spinach leaves

Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
3 tablespoons minced garlic
4 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cheesy Filling
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup canned low-sodium veggie broth
1 lb. tofu
8 oz. vegan herbed cream cheese
2 T lemon juice
1/8 t nutmeg
1 16oz package of lasagna noodles
1/4 cup nutritional yeast, optional

Directions:

1. Make the sauce:

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat.
Add onion, saute for about 5 minutes or until soft.
Add garlic, cook for another 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, and parsley.
Stir well, turn heat to low and let sauce simmer covered for 1 hour.
Add salt and pepper.

2. Cook the noodles according to the directions on the box, or buy the kind that don't require you to cook them first. You just layer them with the sauce the way you normally would, and they cook while the lasagna bakes. They turn out pretty good!

3. Make the cheesy filling:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add parsley and garlic, saute for about 1 minute.
Add veggie broth, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
Add tofu, herbed vegan cream cheese, and lemon juice.
Stir well.
Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until cheese starts to melt.
Stir in nutmeg and nutritional yeast.
Remove from heat; keep warm.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

5. Assembly:

Place 3 lasagna noodles in the bottom of an 11x7 baking dish
Spread 3/4 of the cheesy mixture over the top.
Place 3 noodles over that.
Spread tomato sauce mixture over noodles.
Layer with all of the spinach leaves.
Spread remainder of cheesy mixture.
Layer remaining noodles and sauce, finishing with sauce.
Sprinkle a bit of nutrional yeast on top. (optional)

6. Cover and bake 15 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 20-30 minutes, or until done.

Makes the best lasagna ever, and a lot of it.

Easy Black Bean Burgers

After searching the internet high and low for an awesome black bean burger recipe that actually turned out as tasty as hoped, I finally discovered "Kate's New and Improved Black Bean Burgers."

Ingredients:

1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 cup grated red pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon (or 1/2 for very spicy burgers) each of dried red pepper, cumin and chili powder
1 teaspoon each of oregano and basil
1 tablespoon parsley
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1/2 cup coarsely chopped sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 15.5 oz. can black beans
2 tablespoons of water
3/4 cup of wheat germ

Directions:

After grating the red pepper and onion set them aside in a medium bowl. Combine the garlic, spices, almonds, sunflower seeds, and oil in a food processor and pulse until texture resembles bread crumbs. Transfer mixture to the bowl. Put the black beans and water in the food processor and process until smooth. Add this mixture to the bowl along with the wheat germ. Mix (preferably with your hands) completely. Separate into five balls and shape into patties. Make sure the patties are not too thin or they will fall apart. Grill for 8 minutes on each side, or until slightly browned. Enjoy with your favorite burger fixings.

Ciara's addendum: I left out the almonds (but didn't forget the sunflower seeds!) and used olive oil instead of sesame oil. They were fantastic! Thanks Kate!