Thursday, July 14, 2011

Tofu Lasagna

I am sharing this recipe not only for the benefit of my readers, but for my own benefit. I came up with this recipe awhile back and have made it several times since. However, I never wrote the recipe down. Every time I make it, it is somewhat of a guessing game for correct measurements and hoping I remembered all the ingredients. Now I will have a place to check back and make sure I have the right amount of veggies and didn't omit any spices. Although, there have been plenty of times I have forgotten a thing or two and it still came out tasting good. So feel free to use your own substitutions and see how it comes out!
Tofu Lasagna
(Print Recipe)

Ingredients
1 15 oz package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 cup vegetable broth or water
3 cups fresh broccoli, chopped and lightly steamed
3 cups zucchini or summer squash, chopped and lightly steamed
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
8 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted and all excess water removed
1 jar marinara sauce
4-6 no-boil, whole wheat lasagna noodles
Salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Crumble the pressed tofu by scraping a fork along the edge of it. Once the tofu is crumbled, mix it with the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano, and a little salt and pepper. Set aside.

Put the cannellini beans in a food processor along with the chopped garlic, water or broth, salt and pepper. Process until smooth, to make a white bean spread. Set aside.

Mix together the peppers with the steamed broccoli and zucchini/summer squash. Add a little salt and pepper. Put the spinach in separate a bowl and set aside.

Put a small amount of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9x7 inch or 8x8 inch pan. Arrange 2-3 noodles on top (depending on what fits in your pan). Spread 1/2 of the white bean spread on top. Next put 1/3 of the vegetables on top. Then 1/3 of the tofu mixture on top of that. Spoon a little sauce on top. Continue this process 2 more times, reserving a little marinara sauce for the top. Lastly, put 2-3 more noodles on the top, cover with the rest of the bean spread and marinara sauce.

Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes until the noodles are tender and the lasagna is bubbling. Set aside and let rest 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Optional: Serve with red pepper flakes and fresh basil.

Here are my bowls for layering.
I love all the veggies packed in here!
A note about all the veggies: They are packed full of water and cook down even more in the oven, so the lasagna will probably have some excess water at the bottom of it. After I take a few pieces of lasagna out of the pan, I usually spoon some of the excess water out, so the leftovers won't get too soggy. Or, transfer the leftovers to a different container.
I also have a lunch recipe to recommend to you too! This isn't my recipe, it can be found here, on Oh She Glows. It is one of the best veggie burgers I have made myself. I was super excited to eat it with a side of our fresh garden tomato and fresh garden basil, from our own backyard. I also made some baked sweet potato wedges to go with it. I drizzled a little safflower oil over them, some salt, pepper, and chinese 5 blend spice, and then baked them at 400 for 20-25 minutes.
The burger would have been wonderful with some avocado and served over a bed of greens, but I was out! And it was still good, so I can't wait until next time when I am better prepared- it'll be even tastier.
I'll leave you with a few photos from last night. Nate and I both took pictures of the moon before we went to bed. Here is my picture.
Here is his picture.
Look at the detail on the moon he captured! It's funny how we were both trying for different things- I wanted to capture the ring around the moon and he wanted to zoom in as close as possible, to capture that detail. Then I liked his picture better and I tried to take it myself.
FAIL! How did he do that???

6 comments:

  1. Yummy and Yummier!!! Those burgers look soo good Mariah!! Your picture looks exactly like hers on OhSheGlows!! I just showed Brandon that recipe today and said let's make those this weekend b/c I think we already have the majority of the ingredients! Is Nate really taking photography classes when he says he's going to "Trader Joe's"?

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  2. Thanks- I didn't have any rolls & bbq sauce like she did, so I thought mine looked kinda boring, but I wanted to share them anyway. I made them the day she posted the recipe because I already had all the ingredients (I had been planning on black bean burgers, but these looked better). Yes, I think that Nate must be taking some kind of class and knows secrets about photography that he won't tell me!

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  3. I really wish I could sneak in a tofu lasagna, but my hubby would never even try it. He would actually probably accuse me of wasting food. I think it looks great though.

    Isn't it funny about photography? I wouldn't be able to get as good a shot of the moon as either of you did.

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  4. Nate doesn't like it either, but he will still eat it thankfully. A few times I made one side with the tofu and one side without- he liked just the veggies and sauce side better.

    It is funny how two people can take completely different pictures, even using the same camera in the same conditions. I read this the other day and thought it was funny. "A photographer went to a socialite party in New York. As he entered the front door, the host said 'I love your pictures- they're wonderful; you must have a fantastic camera.' He said nothing until dinner was finished, then: 'That was a wonderful dinner; you must have a terrific stove.' -Sam Haskins. haha- it definitely helps having the right equipment, but you must know how to use it! I see so many awesome photos and wouldn't know where to begin to even come close to taking pictures like that!

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  5. I love tofu lasagna! I haven't made one in awhile and I think I will try your recipe- I like the addition of beans too!
    Luckily, although my husband loves fried foods and ranch dressing more than anything, he is great about trying my recipes. It took him awhile to learn to trust me when I would suggest "weird" things to eat... now his response is basically "Ok, that sounds weird, but I trust your judgement." lol

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  6. The beans add an extra flavor that I love! That's nice he will try "weird" things! Nate tries them too, but isn't always a fan... which is ok, I'm just glad when people at least give it a chance!

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