RECIPE OF THE WEEK: Raw Vegan Lasagna

When I first decided to give plant based foods a try, the first home made meal I made was lasagna. I mean, I had dibbled and dabbled in the decadent raw vegan desserts for about a year before I decided to make plant based foods a complete part of my lifestyle. So as I was strolling down memory lane, I thought I'd share this recipe with you this week. Trust me, you'll be impressed at how simple this lasagna is to make and how lovely tasting it is.

RAW TOMATO SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• 7 oz sundried tomatoes
• 3 tomatoes
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp celtic sea salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp sage
• pinch of morgoram
• a few pieces of jalepeno peppers
• a few dashes of nutritional yeast

RAW VEGAN CHEESE INGREDIENTS

• 2.5 cups of raw cashews (pre-soaked) 
• 2 large cloves of garlic 
• 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
• 1 tsp parsely
• 1/2 tsp of onion powder
• 1 whole lemon (juiced) 
• 2/3 cups of water
• 1 pint of portabella mushrooms (marinated over night in olive oil, water, celtic sea salt and pepper)

LASAGNA PASTA AND LAYER INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 raw organic zucchinis
• 5 oz of raw organic spinach

MAKING THE RAW VEGAN TOMATO SAUCE

• Take all of the ingredients, throw them in your blender or food processor and blend/process until its thick but smooth like a paste. 
• Put in a bowl.
• Let it set in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble your lasagna.

*To see how the tomato sauce should look click here.

TIP: Remember, you're not cooking this, so you want your sauce a little thicker than normal so that it will set correctly in the lasagna. Not too thick, but not runny either. If it's too runny put more sundried tomatoes in...if it's too thick, put more tomatoes or add a lil water.

MAKING THE RAW VEGAN CHEESE

• Take all of the ingredients (except the mushrooms), throw them all in your blender or food processor and blend/process until thick and creamy like cheese. 
• Put into a bowl. 
• Drain, rinse and chop your marinated mushrooms to desired size. I typically like them finely chopped. Then fold the mushrooms into the cheese. 
• Let it set in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble your lasagna. 

*To see how the cheese should look click here.

*To learn how animal cheese is not good for you, click here.

PUTTING TOGETHER THE RAW VEGAN LASAGNA

Prep: Before you can begin to put the lasagna together, you need to make your raw vegan pasta. This is done with zucchini. I simply took a potato peeler, peeled off the outer green layer and discarded it, using only the white of the zucchini. Then I continued to peel thin layers of the zucchini until there was nothing else to peel. Took about 5 mins. Then I marinated the zucchini for about 2-3 hours at room temperature in olive oil, celtic sea salt and a lil black pepper.

When you're ready to assemble your lasagna...

• Take the tomato sauce and line the bottom of your casserole bowl with a little bit of it. Spread the tomato paste all around the bottom. This will help your lasagna not to stick. 
• Then put your first veggie pasta layer (the zucchini) down. Make sure you place each zucchini piece close to each other and cover the entire contents of the bottom of the pan. 
• Now top with your cheese mixture. You only need a thin layer of cheese. Don't be tempted to lay it on thick. Trust me, you'll still taste the cheese if you use a thin layer. This cheese is thick, creamy and tasty and trust me, you don't want too large of a section of cheese...so be careful to spread it as thin as possible. 
• Then layer with your spinach. Cover all of the cheese with your spinach leaves. 
• Lastly, repeat the layering process...tomato sauce, zucchini, cheese, spinach, until there is either nothing else to layer, or until your pan is full. 
• Let it sit either at room temperature or in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  

TIP: If refrigerated. Be sure to then sit it out at room temperature for at least 20 mins before eating. 

THEN DEVOUR!!!

This was my actual dinner plate...served on a saucer.

Eating with a plant based diet, you'll find you don't need as much to eat as you did before. The reason is because you're getting ALL of the nutritional value of the foods you eat. You're not cooking them out and you're not using processed foods that cover them up and over power the nutrients with toxins. Thus, getting fulfilled with less.

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