Lasagna with Tempeh and Celeriac

For a while this was the best dish I was making and everyone I tried it out on loved it! I will say that it requires about an hour to prepare but if you enjoy cooking and good vegan food go for it! You'll need some specific ingredients so be sure to visit a health foods store to find them. The lasagna can be made gluten-free if you use brown rice lasagna noodles, which we did and it was wonderful. Serve with a beautiful salad and this makes a for a nice wholesome dinner. There's Bianca and Annalisa enjoying dinner before we went off to Lindsay's dance show last year.
You'll need:
1 package Brown Rice Lasagna noodles
1 recipe of Celeriac Puree for Lasagna
1 recipe of Home-made Marinara
1 recipe Tempeh Ragu
5 ounces vegan shredded mozzarella cheese, we used Follow My Heart

Home-made Marinara
2 C fresh basil
2 red bell peppers
1/2 C fresh oregano
3 carrots
1 C sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 2 hours and drained
1 onion
4 dates, soaked for 2 hours and drained
2 t sea salt
1 C fresh tomatoes
2 pints cherry tomatoes
1 t lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend well.

Tempeh Ragu
8 ounces of tempeh
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Italion seasoning
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce (I used my homemade sauce from above)
Process the tempeh, heat in a pan with the oil for about 2-3 minutes. Add the seasonings, garlic and pasta sauce. Cook over medium for 2 more minutes. The ragu should be warm when added to the lasagna, but it can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

Celeriac Puree
8 ounces of peeled celery root (celeriac), from 12 ounces unpeeled root
1 clove of garlic, whole and peeled
2 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan margarine
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
Cut celery root into 1" cubes and boil in pan with the garlic clove. Add salt to the water til it's as salty as tears. Not too sure what that means, Bianca always performed this step. Boil for 7-9 minutes. Drain but save a little bit of the cooking water. Blend in a cuisinart with spices, margarine and 2 T of the cooking water. The puree should look like mashed potatoes. The puree should be warm when added to the lasagna.

To make:
Step 1) Boil the noodles for about 3-4 minutes.
Step 2) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 3) In an 8 inch glassware pan layer a tiny bit of marinara.
Step 4) Then a layer of noodles, you'll need to cut them as they will be too long.
Step 5) Then you layer half of the celeriac puree, half of the tempeh ragu and 1/3 of the cheese.
Step 6) Layer of noodles and repeat Step 5.
Step 7) Layer of noodles and a thin layer of sauce and then the last 1/3 of the cheese to top it off.
Step 8) Bake for 40-50 minutes. When the cheese browns a little, it's perfect.

As always, Enjoy!
<3 Dani

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Completely raw and vegan! These are so fun and delicious! I think this was the first recipe I ever made from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. I made them way back for Bianca's birthday and they were well liked, by those that enjoy raw foods of course :) The frosting was the best part, you might consider doubling it so there's plenty!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

For the cake:
5 C carrot pulp, from about 3 pounds carrots
1 3/4 C raw sunflower seeds
1 C dates, pitted and soaked for a couple hours
2 C shredded coconut
1 1/2 t nutmeg
3 t cinnamon
Process the sunflower seeds in a cuisinart until ground into a flour. Add in the date slowly blended them in with the sunflower seed mixture. In a large mixing bowl combine the mixture with the carrot pulp and the spices, adding more to taste.

For the frosting:
1 1/2 C raw cashews
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T agave or honey
1/2 C water, as needed
You'll need a high speed blender for this recipe. In a Vitamix blend all ingredients adding in water to get a creamy frosting like consistency. To make the frosting whiter use light colored agave.

Assembly:
You need to actually have a cupcake pan with liners. Allow them to harden in the refrigerator before you remove them from the pan. Scoop out the cake and fill each cupcake section leaving a tiny bit of room for frosting. The best way to frost them is to fill a small zip-lock bag and then cut the very edge of the corner and squeeze from the opposite end. Top cupcakes with the frosting in a circular motion from outside to the center.

You can freeze these and they'll last much longer, take them out to defrost about a half hour before you eat them, they're really moist this way.

Enjoy,
Dani

Spanish Rice Bowl

I whipped up this Spanish rice bowl with some leftover homemade salsa from the tacos and it was wonderful! I've really been getting creative with all my leftovers. The salsa was better after it had sat for a couple days and all the flavors had marinated. Use a really ripe avocado and mash it in somewhat like guacamole. Yum!

Spanish Rice Bowl
1/2 C brown rice, cooked in 1 C water
1/2 C black beans
handful of shredded cabbage
1/2 or so homemade salsa
half an avocado
half a lime, freshly juiced
Cook the rice in the water, bring to a boil then let simmer for about a half hour to 40 minutes. Add the black beans while the pan is hot so they get warm as well. Place in a deep bowl, ad the shredded cabbage, salsa, avocado and then lime. Mix around with fork and enjoy!

Enjoy,
Dani

Eggplant Salad

I watched my old roommate Lindsay throw sauteed eggplant on her salad almost everyday last year and somehow never tried it. I had a little leftover from the dinner the other night so I sliced it up, gentled heated it on the stove and threw it on a salad for lunch the next day. Wow was I surprised by how delicious it was. I could not believe I had never tried it myself, especially considering how much I love eggplant! This is an especially easy way to spice up your lunch salad!

Recipe
Romaine Lettuce leaves
eggplant
red bell pepper
scallions
avocado
soy sauce
flax seed oil
In a saucepan drizzle some soy sauce and add a bit of water, a small bit. Warm on the stove at medium heat. Slice some eggplant and lay each piece flat on the pan. Depending on the size of your eggplant you may want to quarter the slices. Flip after a couple minutes and allow the other side to heat, adding more water or soy sauce not to let it burn on the pan. Meanwhile tear the lettuce leaves, dice the bell pepper, thinly slice the scallions and drizzle with flax seed oil. Once the eggplant is ready throw on the salad warm and add the avocado last.

Perfection! This was my after run meal on Saturday, I did 10 miles again. This training is really getting me though, but I'm loving it.

Enjoy,
Dani

"Refried" Bean Tacos

This summer I discovered a new way to do tacos and of course they are not really refried! You simply blend half a can of beans and then add in the other half still whole with a ton of mexican or taco seasoning and WALLAH--refried beans! Really, it's so great! Bre and I had dinner together tonight and she thoroughly enjoyed these tacos. It was so funny because Bre doesn't like anything spicy and the Co-op here in IV doesn't even carry mild salsa! So I ended getting stuff to make some fresh pico de gallo which I love anyways and it was delicious! Tomatoes, garlic, onion, cilantro and lemon, so simple. Throw on some sliced cabbage, fresh squeezed lime and you got yourself a fiesta!

Sorry about the picture of "refried" beans, it's definetly not pretty or mouth watering, but hey refried beans never did look very appetizing. We just know they are :)

Enjoy,
Dani

Frozen Raw Birthday Cake

Lindsay and I wanted to make some treat for our beloved Holly's birthday. We opened up the Recipes for Life cookbook and came across a recipe for Frozen Raw Birthday Cake-perfect! We both had so much fun making it and were so excited by how nice it came out. It was really easy too!

Recipe
1 16 oz bag of raw almonds
4-5 ripe bananas
1 16 oz bag dried figs
1 16 oz bag dried apricots

Soak the figs and apricots in filtered water overnight. Drain and blend separately and set aside. We used Lindsay's VitaMix but a cuisinart or regular blender would probably work out fine. Blend the bananas and set aside. Grind the almonds into a fine powder and also set aside. Now in a tupperware or other dish that can be frozen begin assembling the cake by layering almonds then a fruit blend, almonds then another fruit blend, etc. Start with almonds and end with a fruit blend. We did almonds, banana, almonds, apricot, almonds and then last figs. Spread the fruit blends very gently not to pick up and mix all the almond crumble. It comes out in great layers if you do it very carefully. Freeze for at least 8 hours and remove just before eating. To remove the cake, flip it upside down and if needed use a little warm water to loosen it from the dish. It should come out very nicely.
Then we got really creative and made this heart out of ground flax seed. We lined it with raisins and made a border around the cake! We were so proud of it :) Next time you have a birthday coming up you know the perfect cake to make!
Birthdays are an incredible opportunity to bless people and we spent Holly's birthday worshiping and praying. It was a beautiful evening of fellowship and encouragement. The Holy Spirit's presence was so tangible and filled the room. Jesus wouldn't have had it any other way himself.

Blessings,
Dani

Spinach Asparagus Quiche

If I haven't already mentioned it, Bianca and I are training for a marathon in November! We're very excited...especially Bianca! Last Saturday we ran our first long run together, 10 miles through Nicene Marks State Park, it was so beautiful. Apparantly replenishing your body within the hour after finishing your run is very important so I pre-made this quiche full of protein from the tofu and spinach. Bianca wasn't expecting much at all and was quite surprised by how sweet and delicious it was! She said it was my best dish yet!!! I think the key is a really sweet onion, I had bought a Maui sweet onion fresh from the farmer's market that I used. The crust was a store made gluten-free crust that was also amazing and no one would ever had known it wasn't made with wheat. All around this quiche was wonderful and I highly satisfying after a long run :) So please, give this one a try!
Recipe
1 14-oz package silken tofu
1 pound asparagus, cut into 1in pieces
2 pounds fresh spinach
1 sweet onion, diced
3 garlic cloves
12 basil leaves, chopped
1/2 T fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T rice vinegar
pinch of hot red pepper flakes
1/2 t sea salt, can add more according to your taste

1 gluten free pie crust

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a baking pan lined with cooking spray or a pan on the stove top layer the onion and asparagus and cook until translucent, 10 -12 minutes. You may cook the vegetables in a little olive oil to caramelize them. In a separate little bowl mince the garlic and mix with the chopped basil, thyme, red pepper flakes and salt. Blend the tofu with the lemon and rice vinegar in a food processor adding in the garlic mixture, careful not to over-process, as soon as the mixture is smooth it's done. Cook the spinach in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and mix with the onions, asparagus and tofu mixture in a large bowl. Gently fold into the pie crust and bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes.
I have moved into my new room in Santa Barbara at the Cohen's home and I just love it. But one problem, there will probably less cooking and less pictures because I do not have a camera of my own. We will do what we can though to keep up the posts though!

Enjoy,
<3>