Vegan Lasagna

After a few weeks into second semester, I'm starting to get those all-too-familiar cravings for good comfort food. I think it's currently being caused by oh-my-crap-i-have-to-find-a-job-this-summer-and-do-better-in-my-classes stress.

Lasagna is one of my old-school comfort foods. My mom used to make a version with ricotta and cilantro which sounds odd, but was actually pretty fantastic. My friend Susan Wong makes pretty awesome lasagna with bits of cream cheese interspersed with ground turkey and tomato sauce that I crave on a regular basis.

The problem with all these comfort food cravings is that I'm trying to re-trainsition into veganism and have started the gym again. It's hard to justify eating half a pan of lasagna if you are waking up early for spin class the next day.

Cue vegan lasagna! I bumped up the health by making noodles out of zukes and the tofu "ricotta" is so good you can't even tell the difference!

Instead of piling on globs of parmesan or of a heavily processed vegan parmesan alternative, I just made "poor man's parm" by frying up some breadcrumbs in olive oil and spices. If you omit these, this lasagna becomes gluten-free! While it's not necessarily "make it better at home" since there are some really excellent lasagnas out there, it's definitely "make it better (for you) at home."

Vegan Lasagna with Zucchini Noodles

4-5 large zucchini
1 onion
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh spinach, blanched and squeezed dry
1 bunch basil
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce, or a large can of diced tomatoes with juice
veggie sausage (optional)
1 package firm (not extra firm) tofu
1/2 lb mushrooms
juice and zest of 1/2 an orange
salt, pepper, olive oil

First, slice the zucchini into strips lengthwise and soak in salt water for 1-2 hours. Rinse off and dry in the oven set at 150-200 degrees, checking every few minutes to make sure they don't brown.

While the zucchini are soaking, make your sauce. Saute mushrooms, onions and garlic in olive oil for 5-7 minutes and add jarred sauce or canned tomatoes, chopped up vegan sausage (if your'e using it) and simmer (if you're using a can of diced tomatoes, make sure to boil down the sauce and reduce it so the lasagna isn't super-watery).

Meanwhile, make the "ricotta." Crumble up the tofu with your hands into a big bowl. Add spinach, chopped basil, 1 tbsp of olive oil, orange juice and zest, salt, and pepper to taste. Mix vigorously until well combined.

Once the zucchini are done, begin layering your lasagna. Start with a layer of zucchini, then tomato sauce, then tofu mixture and repeat.

If you'd like, you can pulse whatever bread you have around and fry the breadcrumbs in 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper to make a parmesan substitute to sprinkle over the top.

Bake the whole thing, covered, at 375 for 50 minutes. After 30 minutes, check how watery it is and drain out the extra water if necessary.