Toast From Pajottenland....

This has seriously become my favorite lunch. It is super simple and super satisfying. I Love the combination of flavors and I think this is a great way to utilize radishes. Radishes are a vegetable I really love but hardly have occasion to use in anything other then a salad, I imagine other people find this to be true, and while in a salad is not a bad way to eat radishes, I do enjoy new creative ways to eat them.

This simple open-faced sandwich originated as a Belgian snack food. Coming from the Pajottenland area West of Brussels.  Pajottenland is famous for unfiltered, fermented Lambic beers, and stinky cheese. The traditional recipe calls for either Quark (A stinky cheese from the area) or sour cream, so it was easy enough to veganize using Vegan Sour Cream. You can make this with or without Daiya, I've done both, and love it both ways.  However you choose to make it, enjoy!

Toast from Pajottenland

1 loaf Dark Rye or Pumpernickel Bread Sliced.
1 Bunch Radishes Sliced thin
12oz Vegan Sour Cream
1-2 Shallots finely diced
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
3Tbsp chopped fresh Chives or Green Onions
Daiya Cheddar Cheese (Optional)
Minced Parsley to Garnish (Optional)

- Toast the Bread.

- In a bowl mix the sour cream, garlic powder, salt, pepper, shallot, and chives/onion.

- Spread a layer of the sour cream mixture over each slice of toasted bread.

- If using Daiya sprinkle a layer of the cheese over the sour cream.

- Place the sliced radishes on top.

- Sprinkle with parsley and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

The Ultimate Stoner Breakfast....

 

It's not called The Ultimate Stoner Breakfast for nothing. This meal is pure 'meat' and potatoes, it's 'carbs, carbs, and more carbs.' it is exactly the kind of food you want to eat and should indulge in when you're grooving in your happy place, and everything is beautiful. One of the best things about it is how low effort it is, yet the flavor is not sacrificed. It's also super hearty, it'll tame even the wildest munchies, of course, don't limit yourself to just eating it at breakfast time!

Now, there are two ways you can eat this. The 'traditional' way with each food having it's own separate space on the plate. Or you can eat it like a taco. Yeah, you heard me, a pancake breakfast taco. How awesome is that? I know it sounds strange but trust me when I say it's amazing. My husband was really skeptical at first too, but after he watched me down 3 of these bad boys he was convinced enough to try it. If you enjoy it in Taco form then you can essentially add anything you like as a topping which is awesome, it makes it versatile. So trust me on this one, and give it a try.

(PS: You can use any pancake recipe you like, but I've included my go-to just incase you don't have one. I have also made these with gluten-free flour before and they have turned out well.)

Cheese Tots

Olive Oil
1lb Frozen Tater Tots
1 Small Yellow Onion Diced
Garlic powder
Sea Salt
4 Sliced Green Onions
1/2-1 Cup Daiya Cheddar or Mozzarella Cheese.

- Preheat Oven to 400'F

- Dump the tater tots into a baking dish with the diced onions. Drizzle a little olive oil over them then sprinkle them with salt, and garlic powder. Stir to combine everything.

- Pop it in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until tots are cooked to your taste.

- Remove from the oven, Sprinkle cheese, and green onions over top. Return to the oven and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese has just melted and the onions are soft.

- Enjoy on their own as part of your breakfast, smothered in ketchup, sour cream, or mayo. Or enjoy in a taco!


Classic Go-To Pancakes

2 Cups White Flour
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 Cups water
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup

- Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

- Combine the water, maple syrup and olive oil.

- Pour the wet into the dry and stir until just combined.

- Heat a pan, spread a 1/4 C of batter out into the pan, spread it thin, but not too thin, similar to the thickness of a flatbread.

- Cook for a few minutes until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. flip and cook another couple of minutes until golden brown. Repeat.

The Ultimate Stoner Breakfast.

Add-Ons and Extras

Avocado
Sour Cream
Mayo
Ketchup
Maple Syrup
Your Favorite Tofu Scramble
Jalapeno Slices or Hot Sauce if you like it spicy

To Serve the "Traditional Way" Heap a mound of Cheese Tots onto your plate, Slap down 3-4 Pancakes next to it, then add on a portion of your favorite Breakfast Sausage, a portion of your favorite bacon, with half an avocado on the side. Serve with ketchup and mayo for the tots, and Maple Syrup for the pancakes and sausage.

To Serve it the "Taco Way" Spread a thin layer of Syrup over one pancake. Place 1/2 a slice of bacon (or a full slice if you prefer) on top of the pancake, then a breakfast link.  Pick the pancake up, and hold it in your palm like you would a taco shell. Take a spoon and scoop a small portion of the cheese tots inside your pancake shell. If you're using tofu scramble as well, scoop a small portion of that into the pancake taco along with the tots. Drizzle a bit of ketchup over top, and then serve with dollops of sour cream and/or mayo and whatever other add-on's you wish. It's great with or without avocado, and I personally like the mix of sour cream and mayo. So delicious!

Vegan Mofo #19: Irish Leek and Cheese Soup...

Leek and Cheese Soup is kind of like the Irish version of French Onion Soup. Quick and easy to make using staple ingredients; warming on a cold night and comforting any time of year. I don’t really know where it comes from, but it’s probably been around in one form or another for ages. All I know is that I was interested in making it from the first moment I saw it listed in an Irish cook book.

Irish Leek and Cheese Soup 

3 Large Leeks, Washed and Sliced
1/4 Cup Non-Dairy Butter
*** 4oz your Favorite vegan Cheese
2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Whole Grain Mustard
6 Cups Vegan Chicken Stock or Water mixed with Vegan Chicken Boullion Cubes
1 tsp Poultry Seasoning
1 tsp Sea Salt (More or Less to taste)
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
Additional Grated Vegan Cheese for Garnish (Optional)
Sliced Green Onions for Garnish (Optional)

- Melt the nondairy butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the Leeks and saute for 10-15 minutes until softened.

- Add in the flour and stir constantly for about 2 minutes until leeks are well coated.

- Add in the salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and mustard. Stir to combine.

- Slowly add in the stock, stirring to blend. Increase the heat and bring the soup to a boil. Then Reduce heat, cover the pot and let simmer gently for about 15 minutes.

- Add in the cheese. And let simmer an additional five minutes. If the cheese melts and blends in so be it, but if it doesn’t fully melt it’s kind of nice to have strands of gooey cheese within the soup.

- Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Then serve garnished with additional vegan cheese and green onions if desired, serve with a hearty brown bread that you can use to sop up the soup.

*** Note - The Original recipe uses Irish Farmhouse Cheese, and specifically suggests Cashel Blue. However you can use any flavorful, sharp vegan cheese you can find. I used Provolone. I bought the slices and just broke them up into little squares. The squares somewhat clumped together to form little cheese lumps in the soup which I liked, as it very much resembled the picture of the original soup. But, use whatever vegan cheese you like, shreds or slices, doesn’t really matter either.***

Vegan Mofo #12: Bacon Salad with Farmhouse Cheese Dressing...

I don’t know how typical of an Irish Salad this is, but I found a recipe for bacon salad with cheese dressing in an Irish cook book and found my mouth watering at the thought. The original recipe says to use cooleeney cheese and apples from Tipperary, I’ve never had cooleeney cheese in my life and have no idea what it tastes like, but it seems to me that most farmhouse cheeses have a strong or distinct flavor. Unfortunately while the vegan cheese market is growing it has not yet grown so big as to incorporate ‘off beat’ or regional or specialty cheeses. So I chose to use a combination of vegan Provolone and cream cheese as that was all I had available outside of cheddar, jack, mozzarella or Jalapeno Havarti. Still, despite my recreation not being as accurate as possible I do think it turned out damn delicious, and I will definitely be making it again.

The key to this salad I think is to make sure you use quality products, because it’s so simple you want the best flavor you can find. Get the freshest fall apples, get the crispest lettuce, use your favorite vegan cheese and buy the good coconut flakes to make the coconut bacon. You do that, and you’re going to have a shining star of a side salad. A great accompaniment to any meal, or a nice light lunch, if serving as a lunch enjoy with some brown soda bread scones!

Bacon Salad with Farmhouse Cheese Dressing 

2 Heads Romaine lettuce chopped or torn
½ Cup Coconut Bacon (Recipe Follows)
1 Large tart Apple Chopped (I Used Pink Lady)
Dash of Sea Salt
Dash of Cracked Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Minced Fresh Parsley

Cheese Dressing

1/3 Cup Vegan Sour Cream
1- 2 Tbsp Vegan Cream Cheese
2- 4 Slices Vegan Provolone (or favorite sharp vegan cheese)
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Cracked Black Pepper to taste
A Dash of Agave if a sweeter dressing is desired (Optional)

Coconut Bacon 

½ Cup Dried Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
½ Tbsp Liquid Smoke
Dash of Smoked Paprika
Dash of Garlic Powder
Dash of Smoked Sea Salt

Instructions - Coconut Bacon 

- Combine all liquid ingredients in a bowl, and pre-heat a small pan over medium heat. Once heated add the coconut flakes and pour the sauce over, mix with a spatula to combine. Fry for 3-5 minutes turning occasionally so the flakes don’t burn. Once browned and most of the liquid has been absorbed turn off the heat and remove the coconut to a plate to cool. Let cool 5 minutes. Leave any remaining liquid in the pan.

Instructions - Salad 

- Cook the chopped apple in the liquid remaining in the pan you used to cook the coconut bacon. Saute apple until golden and then remove from the heat.

- Place Romaine, Coconut Bacon, and Apple in a large bowl and garnish with salt, pepper and parsley.

Instructions - Dressing 

- Combine all dressing ingredients in a small pan over medium heat. Whisk together until cheese has melted and everything is smooth and heated through.

- Pour the warm dressing over the salad, toss to combine and serve!

Product Review - Field Roast: Chao Slices...

Field Roast is by far one of my favorite vegan companies, and they have been for some time now. All of their products are delicious, and not a one of them has let me down yet. They make some of the best vegan sausages on the market - and certainly THE BEST veggie dogs. - They also make killer deli slices, and burgers and now they’re tossing their hat into the ring and have begun making Vegan Cheese. Oh yeah, you heard that right, another vegan cheese!

Vegan cheese has come a long way in recent years, I know long-time vegans who say the vegan cheese now is light-years more advanced then what they had back in the day, but to tell the truth vegan cheese has even improved significantly from when I first went vegan five years ago. As far as I’m concerned the best on the market is Daiya, but Field Roast is definitely giving them a run for their money with their new Chao slices.

The new slices are made from Chao tofu which is a fermented soybean curd popular in Asia, and according to their website they make their Chao slices in a way similar to the way dairy cheese is traditionally made. Each flavor also contains coconut oil, as well as a variety of spices. They are Non-GMO, and roughly 60 calories per slice. They come in three awesome flavors such as Creamy Original, Coconut Herb, and Tomato Cayenne.  If you want my opinion each flavor has it’s virtues but I think I liked the coconut herb the best, it reminded me a bit of dairy goat cheese. Tomato Cayenne was probably my second favorite and reminded me a bit of cheddar though I really appreciate that Field Roast has attempted something different with their flavors rather then just try to mimic the same basic flavors of cheddar, mozzarella, and jack. Vegan’s need variety too and if you ask me there enough vegan cheddar and mozzarella substitutes on the market as it is. I love creativity.

All three flavors melt, and they’re particularly good for putting on burgers, sandwiches, grilled cheese, or any other thing you can think of. They’re even good eaten straight out of the package or is that just me? I have to say even my husband was impressed by Chao and normally he doesn’t particularly care for vegan cheese, so that’s saying something.

Field Roast made their Chao slices available sometime at the end of last year and so by now they should be easily available in most Whole Foods or health food stores, so next time you want a veggie burger grab up a pack of these slices to top it off with, you won’t be sorry.

If you want to learn more about Field Roast or their Chao Slices you can do so here

Christmas 2014...

My Amazing Cook Book Haul from this year!

Christmas this year started out the way that Christmas usually does in my house. I got up early - although not as early as I normally do, this year I slept till 7am - and started cooking. By 9:30am or so It was present time! I got some lovely stuff, a toque and money from my mother, a TON of awesome Vegan cook books from my Parents-In-Law and Brother-In-Law, and some delicious tea, a really great loose-leaf tea thermos, and some cool DVD’s from my husband - but the gift that really made Christmas was my husband - despite us setting a $60 limit - bought me a 5 Quart Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer! Man I have wanted one of these things for years and years and I always put off buying one because I say “It’s too expensive.” It’s always next time, next time, next time and then I can never bring myself to actually spend the money because I figure at this point my whisking arm is so strong why bother. Still, every time I pass by one in the store, I think “Some day kitchen aid, some day” and This Christmas was that day! I can’t wait to use it on something!

I have the best husband in the world!!!!

Now, enough about gifts, what you really came here for was the food right? Well, as I said we did our Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve this year, and so on Christmas Day we were just planning on munching finger foods and dessert. Our breakfast was light, Stollen as is tradition in my house. I believe I mentioned last year that my Oma is normally the one that bakes stollen in my family and she gives one to all her kids and grandchildren. However since she past away last year at Canadian Thanksgiving there was noone to make Stollen anymore, and so I took it upon myself last year to make some. I used the same base recipe this year and made my substitutions and while I think it turned out well, it somehow wasn’t as good as last year. I think I was too cocky this year. Last year I hovered and I was fussy about it because I wanted them to turn out perfect. This year I was preoccupied and busy and I paid less attention and so the bottoms got a little over-cooked. Not burnt but just more brown then they should have. Overall they still tasted great, but I learned a valuable lesson about patience and baking!  I made two stollen again, one with almonds for me, and one without for my husband. I actually also made 3 gluten-free stollen. One for myself, one for my gluten-free friend D and one for my friend NB. At first I thought the gluten-free version wouldn’t be able to hold water to the original, but it surprisingly turned out pretty good, more dense then a traditionally stollen but just as tasty! So that was a nice surmise I only wish I’d remembered to take a picture of them. Sorry!

Almond Stollen

Almond-Free Stollen

So, with breakfast done, and peasants done, and the cleanup taken care of I went back to working on the finger food, which inevitably took longer then initially expected. I did however have enough down time before guests arrived to shower, change, and take a few peaceful breaths. Then the family was over and after a bit of mingling it was time to eat!

Stollen - Sliced and Buttered

I was quite excited to try out this Korean BBQ Satay from Joni Marie Newman’s book “Fusion Food In The Vegan Kitchen” It’s a simple broiled tofu recipe, but what makes it special is it’s marinated and slathered in Korean BBQ. The sauce is made with roasted red peppers, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, green onions, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar. At first the combination seemed strange but it was amazingly delicious. Not a single one of these slices was left over.

Korean BBQ Satay

I couldn’t resist making the Caramelized Onion and Apple Tart which is one of the few savory options from Hannah Kaminsky’s book “Easy as Vegan Pie”- I’ve been wanting to make this for forever and so I’m glad I finally got around to it. It’s very simple, you caramelize red onions, add sliced apple, thyme, white wine, and balsamic vinegar then spread it onto some puff pastry and bake. The recipe also calls for chopped walnuts but I left those off since my husband doesn’t like them. This tart also went over like gangbusters and almost none of it was left.

Caramelized Onion and Apple Tart

I also made the Spicy Seitan Buffalo Wings from Jenny Engel and Heather Goldberg’s book “Spork-Fed” this is another one of those recipes that I’ve been wanting to make for forever, but I so rarely have cause to make buffalo wings, and whenever I’m actually in the mood for such a thing I typically get it at a favorite vegan restaurant in the city. The seitan I made in advance using my standard go-to chicken style seitan recipe. I tried to shape the pieces into ‘wings’ but they came out looking more like cocktail sausages. Oh well! These were delicious. I liked the Spork-fed girls buffalo sauce which was hot but not too hot, and this was a pretty simple preparation. These also went over super well and I served them with the Creamy Vegan Ranch from Lane Gold’s wonderful little book “Vegan Junk Food” Seriously this was probably the best vegan Ranch dressing I’ve ever had - homemade or otherwise. Actually it just might be the best Ranch ever. It is so rich, so creamy, so decadent and so delicious. Everyone agreed!

Spicy Seitan Buffalo Wings

Creamy Vegan Ranch

Next up I made a platter of delicious crostini. On the left is the Butternut Bruschetta with Caramelized Onions and on the right is the Smashed Avocado and Roasted Beet Crostini both from Chloe Coscarelli’s book “Chloe’s Vegan Italian Kitchen.” Both of these appetizers were delicious and both went over very well. The beet Crostini even won over a few avid beet haters and people who were previously indifferent to beets! Both recipes were also super simple but packed loads of awesome flavor, it’s hard for me to decide which one I liked better but I’ll say it never would have occurred to me to use squash on crostini or to pair avocado and beets together in this way. I really love all of Chloe’s books for their simplicity, originality, and deliciousness, she never disappoints me or my guests!

Butternut Bruschetta with Caramelized Onions
Smashed Avocado and Roasted Beet Crostini

Since a holiday can’t be a holiday without a ‘cheeseball’ of sorts I decided to make the Walnut and Current Veganzola Ball from Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman’s book “500 Vegan Recipes.” I’ve actually wanted to make this for sometime as well but never find reason to. Recently though I saw Joni post about it on her blog and I thought “Yes, this year I’m making it!” it’s a fairly simple recipe using tofu, olive oil, flaxseed, miso, garlic, liquid smoke, walnuts, currents and salt and pepper. I expected this ball to be a little sharper in taste, like a Gorgonzola as the name kind of implies, but it was a very mild tasting ‘cheese.’ In fact I added a touch of lemon juice and a pinch more salt and miso to give it a bit more ‘umami.’ but it was still rather mild. Good, but not what I was expecting. I also didn’t have enough currents, I only had about 1/4 C when the recipe called for ½ C so I subbed in raisins but rather then go with regular old black raisins I used golden and I think this actually worked really well. Even my husband who normally doesn’t like cheese of any kind - vegan or dairy - dug into this ball with enthusiasm. In the book they suggest crumbling leftover cheeseball over salad, and I actually think that’ll taste really good, so I plan to use what I have left over on a kale salad tonight!

Walnut and Current Veganzola Ball

The cheesy trend continues as I decided to make a few dishes from John Schlimm’s book “The Cheesy Vegan” I’ve been eying the Blue Moon Dip for some time now and thought this was the perfect opportunity to make it. This is suppose to be a blue cheese dip of sorts and I think it tastes very much like blue cheese. It’s super simple to make, just crumble some tofu into a bowl of vegan mayo, add lime juice, tahini, garlic, onion powder, and apple cider vinegar. So amazing on crackers or bread and it went so well with the Flying Buffalo Dip - also from The Cheesy Vegan. I just couldn’t resist making the buffalo dip even though I already had buffalo wings on the table. It just looked too good and it seemed to me that the blue moon dip and the buffalo dip were a team of sorts. Can’t have one without the other. This was also a really simple dip to make tofu, vegan cheddar, vegan mayo, lemon juice, cider vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and hot sauce all mixed into a bowl together for yummy, decadent perfection!

Blue Moon Dip

Flying Buffalo Dip

Lastly from I decided to also try Schlimm’s The Sailor’s Spinach Dip. This was also a really easy dip. Cashews are used as the base and they’re soaked in wine and vegetable stock after being toasted. Once that’s done you combine them with frozen, thawed spinach, garlic, onion, lime juice, pepper, and cider vinegar. This dip was a bit more tangy then I normally like my spinach dip and so I added a bit of salt, a touch of miso, and a dollop of vegan mayo to kind of even it out a bit, and it ended up tasting amazing. This recipe made a lot though, and I’m not sure that the omnivores at the party liked it quite as much as their gross store-bought non-vegan spinach dip, but what do omnivores know anyway?

The Sailor’s Spinach Dip

Somehow in the whirlwind leading up to Christmas I decided that one cheeseball simply wasn’t enough and so I decided to make the Sage and Gouda Cheeseball from Namely Marly. Despite the fact that I follow a lot of vegan blogs I rarely if ever have the time to make anything from them, but this just looked too good to pass up. Unfortunately I couldn’t find Daiya’s Smoked Gouda Block anywhere and so I subbed in their Jalapeno Havarti and added some Liquid Smoke instead. That was the only substitution I made here and I think the end result was delicious. Of course my ball isn’t as pretty or well formed as Marly’s but oh well. People dug into this with gusto, and even my husband enjoyed it, which was a shock to me as it contained pistachios and pumpkin seeds both of which he doesn’t like. I also already mentioned he doesn’t like cheese, and this ball unlike the Steen and Newman’s ball was very pungent and strong, Much more cheese-like, but my husband at it up like it was going out of style. His tastes are changing all the time and it constantly amazes me!

Sage and Gouda Cheeseball 

So that’s it for the finger foods portion of this post. We ate a ton, and truth be told I had actually originally intended to make much more. In fact I bought all the ingredients I needed to make about 15 different dishes but it became clear as I was cooking on Christmas Day that I just didn’t have the time, nor did I have the space to store all of them and so I ended up nixing some of the dishes from my list. Of course, since some of them were already half prepared - such as pre-made seitan that was marinating etc.. - and since I had the ingredients on hand anyway my husband and I decided to have a mini Boxing Day Feast. - Boxing Day is the day after Christmas for you Americans by the way.

But, of course no celebratory meal is complete without dessert. This year since I went so crazy with baking cookies I didn’t go to wild with desserts. I only made two pies, both of which came from Hannah Kaminsky’s book “Easy as Vegan Pie” the first pie I decided to make was the Strawberry Cereal Streusel Pie which was phenomenal. It’s your basic strawberry pie filling but instead of a regular flour crust the crust is made with four, walnuts, cornflakes, sugar, cinnamon, and vegan butter. The crust was so good you could have eaten it with a spoon on its own, but paired with the pie filling it was a real treat. This went over pretty well, especially with my husband.

Strawberry Cereal Streusel Pie

Then because I like to do things that are a little out of the ordinary I decided to make the Chestnut Crunch Pie. I personally love chestnuts I think they’re insanely delicious and so I’ve had my eye on this pie for a while but was never sure about whether or not anyone else would like it. I like weird things, but not everyone feels the same. Somehow chestnuts really seemed to suit this Christmas and I thought ‘to hell with it’ I know another chestnut lover and so if the pie didn’t go over I could split the pie between me and my friend. Lucky for me the pie did go over well, in fact I think people liked it even more then the strawberry pie. At first everyone kind of looked on it as that strange ‘vegan’ thing but after one brave soul tried a bite and began raving non-stop, everyone had to try a bite. This was actually super simple. You make a chocolate cookie crust then a chestnut pudding, pour the pudding into the crust and top it with candied cacao nibs. Then you let it sit and it’s done. Easy, and so, so good. This just might be one of my new favorite deserts and I loved that it wasn’t overly sweet.

Chestnut Crunch Pie

So, that was our Christmas. By the end of the night I was so full I didn’t want to ever look at food again. We ended the night peacefully by watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” which is one of my favorite films and certainly my favorite “Christmas” film. Now, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear all about our Boxing Day Mini Feast.

Spicy Beef and Spinach Lasagna...

It’s been unseasonably cool here the past week. Mostly the days are warm but in the evening it cools considerably and there’s a good breeze. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I love cooler weather - fall is my favorite time of year - but this kind of weather really makes me want to eat ‘out of season’ you know? The other day when it was particularly grey and quite cool I suddenly felt in the mood for lasagna. I have about a million different lasagna recipes in my arsenal but I didn’t want to use any of them. Instead, I wanted to get creative, so I took a look around and found a package of Beyond Meat Feisty Beef Crumbles that I’d bought when they were on sale but never used. I don’t normally buy these kinds of things but since they were new, my husband and I thought we’d try them out but I just never knew what to use them in, until I realized they would be perfect in lasagna.

Since I was only making a lasagna for my husband and I, and I only had one package of beef and one package of cheese I made a small one using my 8x8 baking pan. You could probably double the recipe for a larger lasagna if you needed to, but this dish is super hearty and filling, we only ate one slice each which is a real anomaly for us - especially my husband who’s been known to turn into Garfield at the site of lasagna. This recipe exceeded my expectations and I was quite happy with the end result. So next time you need to make a really hearty, meaty, cheesy lasagna for the omnivore in your life give this one a shot - provided they don’t mind a little heat of course!

Spicy Beef and Spinach Lasagna 

6 Square Lasagna Sheets (8x8)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Yellow Onion Diced
8 Cloves Garlic Minced
*** 1 Package Feisty Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles thawed (Or your favorite vegan beef)
1 ½ tsp Crushed Fennel Seeds
14oz Can Diced Tomatoes
8oz Can Tomato Sauce
1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
1 Tbsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 tsp White Pepper
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
2 Tbsp Capers
3-4 Tbsp Minced Pepperoni Peppers
10oz Fresh Baby Spinach
*** 1 Package Daiya Mozzarella Shreds (Or your favorite vegan Mozzarella)

Tomato Sauce for Topping 

1 8oz Can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
4oz water
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp onion powder
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp minced pepperoni peppers
½ bunch minced parsley
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1 tsp Dried Basil

Noodles 

- Set a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. When boiling add the lasagna sheets and boil for 5-6 minutes until the sheets become soft and pliable. They don’t need to be fully cooked. Drain them, and rinse them.


Filling 

- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 5-6 minutes until softened.

- Add in the crushed fennel seeds and the beef crumbles. Saute for 5 minutes, until crumbles have browned.

- Add in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, capers, red pepper flakes, and Pepperoni Peppers. Simmer for about 10 minutes then remove from the heat.

Sauce 

- Heat the olive oil in a small pot on the stove. Add in the garlic and saute for 4 minutes until golden.

- Add in all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Then decrease the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

- Remove from the heat and set aside until ready to use.

Assembly

- Preheat oven to 350'F

- Lightly grease an 8x8 baking pan. Layer in 2 of the lasagna noodles. Cover the lasagna noodles with enough spinach to cover them. Layer in enough of the meat filling mixture to cover the spinach. Then sprinkle enough of the cheese over the filling to cover.

- Layer 2 more lasagna sheets overtop, and repeat with remaining spinach, meat filling and cheese.

- Layer the last 2 lasagna noodles on top. Cover the top with the tomato sauce, and then cover in foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Alternately you can bake the lasagna without the sauce and spoon the sauce over top after it finishes baking.

- Once finished remove from the oven, garnish with fresh minced parsley, then cut and serve! Preferably with a nice side salad.

*** Note - Just because I used Beyond Meat crumbles and Daiya Cheese doesn’t mean you have to. Use whatever you favorite vegan meat and cheese are, though if you use a plainly seasoned vegan beef you may want to add a bit more heat to the dish, it’s up to you. Something to keep in mind that this dish is gluten-free and soy free - as long as you use gluten-free lasagna noodles -because both beyond meat and daiya are gluten and soy free products. If you're using other vegan products and gluten or soy is an issue you'll have to read the labels to make sure.***