Noodle-Free Lasagna

This recipe was tweaked from the Eat to Live book.  The first time I made it, it was a bit too seasoned for us.  I did not like the squash sliced lengthwise because it wasn't easy to make thin slices, also it made way too much "noodles" and they were wasted.  It also made for messy eating for kids.  Tonight's version was freaking amazing!

The "noodles" were made by slicing and eggplant and one zucchini into very thin slices.  Mine were not paper thin, but about a 1/4 inch thick circles.  They were placed on cookie sheets that had been wiped with olive oil.  They were then placed in the oven and cooked for about 10 minutes. 

The  ricotta-like filling was made by placing a small onion, 4 cloves of garlic and one container of silken tofu in the food processor.  Once pureed, I added 8 leaves of basil and buzzed a couple times.  You add that to a bowl and mix in one cup of soy mozarella/parmesan blend and a container of firm tofu broken up.  Add 1 Tbsp of italian seasoning, and 1 Tbsp of Mrs. Dash.  Stir together to mix well.

The veggie layer is easy peasy.  I finely chopped 2 heads of broccoli,  red, yellow and orange peppers, 8 oz of baby bella mushrooms, 8 oz of shitaki mushrooms, 2 handfuls of spinach and one handful of kale.

Layers :
spaghetti sauce
eggplant slices
veggie mixture
zucchini slices
ricotta mixture
spaghetti sauce
eggplant slices
veggie mixture
ricotta mixture
spaghetti sauce

Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour uncovered.   

Southwestern Bean Burger

I used this recipe and tweaked it because, well, I can't do anything as I am told.  It was a WINNER!

3 cloves of chopped garlic
1 medium vidalia onion
1/4 cup of corn
1/4 cup of red bell peppers chopped
1/2 cup of medium salsa
1 can of black beans rinsed
1/2 - 1 cup of fine cornmeal
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of cilantro

Saute onions and garlic until onions are transparent.  Add red peppers and corn and saute for a couple more minutes.  Rinse black beans and buzz about 3/4 of can in food processor with 1/2 c of salsa and place in a bowl. When vegetables are sauted, place in food processor and buzz to a creamy consistency.  Add to bowl with beans.  Add whole beans, cilantro and cumin and mash everything together.  Add cornmeal to make mixture stick together.  I added a bit more than a cup to where I felt it would make patties.

I made 16 small patties (cookie size).  Placed them on my baking stone and baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  (15 minutes each side)

I served with a simple guacamole, romaine leaves and roma tomato slices.The rice is a rice blend and a can of tomatoes and chiles.