Vegan Lasagna (For Whitney) :)

So, I have been quite negligent with my blog but have things to share! And many more coming up these next few months...

I am starting with a vegan lasagna I made two weeks ago. For one whole week, I did a vegan diet. No dairy, eggs, honey, etc. I actually read labels for things like "whey." This challenge was harder than it seemed at first, then easier than it seemed after a day or two. My biggest vice is cheese. I can snack on it all day and incorporate it into every meal. Halfway through my vegan week, I started craving (of course) LASAGNA!

Now.. how does one go about making a vegan lasagna, you ask? Easy.

I started off with my ingredients, all purchased at Sprouts:
One package pre-cooked lasagna noodles (I chose rice lasagna noodles because I like their texture)
One jar tomato sauce (sauce can be homemade also, but since this was my first go-round I decided to stick to jarred in case I hated it. Plus, it was my first shopping experience at Sprouts so I tried their own brand of sauce)
One 15 oz package of soft tofu (some recipes use firm, but I've read this makes it dry. Yuck.)
One package Daiya "shredded mozzarella" cheese substitute
One bag of fresh spinach
Italian seasonings, salt, pepper

I purchased the pre-cooked lasagna noodles that do not need to be boiled ahead of time. This saves a lot of time! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or what the noodles say on the package. I used a glass casserole dish for the lasagna. In a medium bowl, I squished all of the tofu into a ricotta like texture. I seasoned it well with salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings. It will taste somewhat plain on it's own, but it takes on the flavor of the tomato sauce and maintains its creamy, ricotta like texture. I first layered sauce on the bottom, as you want all of the noodles to be covered in sauce (otherwise they will not cook and soften properly). Next, I put down a layer of noodles. I then alternated layers of sauce, tofu mixture, spinach, and shredded cheese substitute between every layer of noodles like a normal lasagna. I topped everything with a generous amount of sauce and a layer of the cheese substitute. Bake for about 30 minutes or until done.

I must say, this lasagna was pretty good! I doubted the tofu would even come close to ricotta but with the sauce it wasn't plain or dry at all. I would definitely make this again, but add more flavors like fresh mushrooms, rosemary, basil, sliced tomato, and more GARLIC! This is a perfect "Meatless Monday" meal and you can add as many veggies as you like. The Daiya "cheese" was a bit of an acquired taste, but not bad. Just don't eat it on its own ;)

I forgot to take a picture of this one, but it looked very similar to a "real" lasagna.

(Now, Whitney, you HAVE TO make this and tell me what you think!! Add the ingredients I suggested like mushrooms or sliced tomato.)