Homegrown Zucchini Lasagna

I'm finally back!  I've been meaning to post something for a while now, but between work, school, a toddler, cooking, and life, I haven't had much spare time for anything.  The great news is that the semester is over, and I passed my classes (as if not passing was ever a possibility ;)).  Hopefully, I only have one semester to go before I get my English Language Arts endorsement.  Then, I can teach full time.  Yay!!

In the midst of all the crazy stuff happening, the harvest from the garden came in.  I was super excited for it this year because my daughter was recently diagnosed with an allergy to the arsenic found in pesticides.  Additionally, because we live in Murray next to what used to be an old smelter and refinery site back in the early 1900's, the ground also has a higher arsenic content than it normally would (Thank you previous generations).  Needless to say, my daughter's eczema has been out of control all summer long with arsenic being the main culprit in a long list of other environmental culprits.  An abundant supply of pesticide-free food was just what I needed.  We got tons of carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and peppers.  My grandmother even gifted her entire vine of concord grapes to me, which I used to make grape juice.  My daughter loved the gardening experience, especially pulling the carrots right up out of the ground and eating them.  I already have a list of food to plant next year including artichokes and pomegranates in addition to more of what we planted this year.  Got to keep that no-spray produce coming!

We don't have much freezer space at our house, and although we loaded up my grandma's freezer with fresh produce, we still had a ridiculous amount of zucchini left over.  When my daughter got sick of it, I had to come up with more creative ways to use it.  I did try to hide it in a few things (muffins, bread, meatballs, etc.), but I still had a ton.  I had gotten a paleo book from the library that had a recipe for raw zucchini lasagna in it, and decided to try it.  After all, I had practically everything I needed growing in my back yard.  I had seen recipes for zucchini lasagna before, but had never even considered making it.  Pre-allergy era, I made a mean lasagna.  Several people had told me that it was the best lasagna they'd ever had.  It was one of the foods, that I actually mourned it's loss when I found out that pretty much everything in it was on the do not eat list.  I also mourned nachos and French toast, but not like I mourned lasagna.  Any descent Mexican restaurant in town serves amazing nachos, and French toast was never one of my favorite breakfast foods, so I only miss it occasionally.  It's next to impossible to find good lasagna though.  Even the best Italian restaurant falls short of making a good lasagna, and almost all of them are loaded with meat, which just doesn't appeal to me. I really wanted lasagna back, and even though I'm no longer breastfeeding and can eat anything I want, I still had all of this zucchini sitting on the kitchen table waiting to be eaten.  The paleo lasagna out of the cookbook was actually really good.  I made it a few times, and then decided to try making it using my old lasagna recipe as the baseline.  It isn't allergy friendly for my daughter, but 2/3 of the ingredients came right out of my garden.  I figure I can't be the only person with too much zucchini and not enough freezer space, so here it is, my homegrown zucchini lasagna that tastes every bit as good as my original recipe.  It's guaranteed to help you use up all of that extra zucchini.  As a bonus, I also get to show off the fine China that was gifted to me by a friend in Virginia.  It's been in a box ever since I moved back, and I was delighted for an opportunity to show it off.

Homegrown Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients

For the sauce
3 garlic cloves minced
1 small onion diced
2 cups mushrooms
1-2 teaspoons olive oil or butter
4 cups of fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons oil packed sun dried tomatoes
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon dried basil (1½ teaspoons fresh)

¼ teaspoon dried marjoram (¾ teaspoon fresh)

¼ teaspoon dried parsley (¾ teaspoon fresh)

1/8 teaspoon celery salt

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (optional)

For the cashew "cheese"

1 ½ cups cashews or macadamia nuts soaked, rinsed, and drained

1-2 teaspoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt or to taste

1 clove garlic

splash non-dairy milk

To assemble the Lasagna

2 large zucchinis sliced lengthwise**

Notes

*I like roma tomatoes because they are less watery than other kinds. However, you can use whatever you have on hand.

**I used a mandolin slicer to slice the zucchini.  I like it slightly thicker so that it retains a bit of a crunch when it is done, but any thickness will work.  If you don't have a mandolin slicer, you can just slice it by hand or chunk it up and mix the whole thing together like a casserole.

Directions

To make the sauce:

1. In a saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and garlic and sauté until tender.  Add the mushrooms and sauté 1-2 minutes more. 
2. Lightly blend the tomatoes and sun dried tomatoes in a food processor.  You want them to be smooth, but not liquefied.
3. Add the tomato mixture, all of the herbs and spices, and the Worcestershire sauce (if using) to the onion, garlic, and mushrooms.  Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for about 25 minutes.

To make the cheese:

1. Toss the garlic in the food processor and process until minced
2. Add the nuts, lemon juice, salt, and a splash of milk.  Continue to process until a paste is formed.  Add more milk as needed until you get the desired consistency.  You want it to look a bit like ricotta cheese. 
3. Add salt to taste and set aside

To assemble the lasagna:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Spoon a small amount of sauce onto the bottom of a 12x12 casserole dish so that the bottom is covered.
3. Layer the zucchini on top of the sauce so that the zucchini slightly overlaps.
4. Spread the cheese over the zucchini and cover with sauce.  Then, top with more zucchini, cheese, and sauce.
5. Repeat this process until all of the sauce, zucchini and cheese is gone.  You should end with the sauce on top so that your lasagna won't dry out in the oven.
6. Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and the zucchini can be easily pierced with a fork.

Note:

The lasagna will hold its shape better if you allow it to cool down a bit. 

PB&J Banana Tot Dots

 

I've been meaning to post this for almost a year now, but time has a funny way of getting away from you, especially when you are trying to focus on being a mom, a 5th grade teacher, and a college student.  This idea actually came about while my daughter was going through a particularly difficult teething stage last summer.  There are all kinds of fantastic ideas out there for teething babies, but very few of them met all of the allergen requirements we needed.  My favorite treats were the frozen yogurt dots that are floating about on many blogs and recipe sites.  Of course those were out of the question due to her allergies.  Then I discovered vegan banana soft serve.  It's basically just frozen bananas and peanut butter (optional) blended up in a food processor and served cold.  It's really tasty, and really easy to make, and my daughter really likes bananas and peanut butter so it only made sense to use this to my advantage.  I decided to spice things up a bit and add jelly to the mix, and consequently ended up with a pretty amazing teething treat.  I would imagine you could pour this into a popsicle mold and have a treat for older kids as well, or you could just eat it straight out of the food processor.  I won't judge.

 

 



 

 

PB&J Banana Tot Dots

 

Ingredients

 

2 frozen bananas

2 Tablespoons peanut butter or other nut or seed butter of choice (Optional)

2 Tablespoons jelly or pureed fruit of choice (I used pureed blueberries)

 

Directions

 

1. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper
2. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth
3. Place in a pastry bag or plastic bag with the corner cut off
4. Dispense in small dots on the cookie sheet.  Remember that you are making them for a toddler, so you want them to be fairly small.
5. Place the pan in the freezer. 
6. Once the dots are completely frozen, you can move them from the pan into a separate container.  These melt VERY QUICKLY so I recommend using Tupperware lined with wax paper to separate them out in layers.  Otherwise, you will have a big gooey mess on your hands.   

 

*Notes: The bananas do not necessarily have to be frozen when you put them in the food processor.  However, they will be easier to work with if they are.  I found it very difficult to control the size of my dots with un-frozen bananas.  Also, because these melt so fast, you will only want to give a few at a time to your toddler.

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

As a kid, one of my favorite summer treats was the infamous orange creamsicle; a delightful orange flavored shell with a creamy vanilla inside.  If I happened to be eating the Creamies brand of creamsicles, there was that fantasitc message written on the stick that told me to, "have another creamie," and of course I would.  I'd eat as many as my parents would allow in one sitting, which usually wasn't more than 2 (if I was lucky).  At some point, however, I lost my appetite for them.  Even before my crazy breastfeeding diet, that fake orange flavor with a whitewashed vanilla inside had stopped appealing to me.  Truth be told, frozen desserts in general had stopped appealing to me (with the exception of Ben and Jerry's).  I loved the idea of frozen orange and vanilla in a popsicle, but I preferred to have real orange and vanilla as opposed to something that had been chemically engineered to taste like it.  In fact, I forgot about orange creamsicles altogether until I was thumbing through a book by "The Blender Girl" and found her version of an orange creamsicle smoothie.  Of course I was intrigued by the idea of creating my own orange creamsicle, I just needed to create one that was allergy safe for my daughter.  I had recently used a vanilla bean to make nut milk for the first time (a truly marvelous addition to a household staple) and wanted to do something meaningful with the nut pulp (those vanilla beans are expensive).  Thus the orange creamsicle smoothie was born with real vanilla, real orange, and no cream.  While it didn't pass the 2 year old taste test of approval, it did bring back fond memories of chowing down on orange flavored Creamies and treating myself to another as per the request on the stick.  Only this time, I got to indulge guilt free with all the health benefits that real food has to offer.

 

 

 

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

 

Ingredients

 

3/4 cup nuts soaked or nut pulp (I used macadamia)

1/2 a banana frozen

1 peach or apricot

1/2 cup mango frozen

1 Orange

1 1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 a vanilla bean (optional)

Sweetener of choice to taste (optional I didn't use any)

 

Directions

 

Place all ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth

 

* Note: If you are using soaked nuts instead of nut pulp, add the nuts, vanilla bean, and a portion of orange juice to the blender first and lightly blend before adding the other ingredients to ensure a smoother texture.





Kamut Graham Crackers

This recipe came about as sort of a necessity.  There is an Oh She Glows vegan pumpkin pie recipe with graham cracker crust that I've wanted to try for like a year now.  However, when you are a single mom with a 6 month old baby that has multiple food allergies, making such things becomes too much of a hassle.  Now I have a 16 month old who LOVES graham crackers and snacks in general.  In fact, she is getting to the point where she has to have snacks to get through the day.  Usually we just have dried fruit or Arrowhead Mills Kamut puffs, but those get old fast, even for a toddler.  Sometimes as a special treat we have plantain, potato, or lentil chips but those are expensive and are not very fulfilling as snacks.  My daughter is also in daycare now that school is back in session, which means she gets to watch all of the other kids have snacks while she has none.  It only seemed right to expand our snack repertoire. 

 I almost never make snacky stuff because it's all I can do to get breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the table, but when she got a hold of a wheat and corn filled graham cracker at daycare the other day, I figured what the heck; why not make some for her and have some for my vegan pumpkin pie recipe as an added bonus. Win, win!

This recipe worked out quite nicely with the Kamut flour and it's pretty easy to make.  I went from start to putting it in the oven in under 20 minutes which is another win since that's about how long I can keep my daughter from going into hysterics because I'm cooking and not giving all of my undivided attention to her.  It ends up being worth it though because these delightful crackers are 100% kid approved.   

 

 

These crackers are mildy sweet with a light, airy crunch and they are healthier than your traditional store bought graham crackers, which is yet another win.  I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure they would also taste great with a glass of non-dairy milk or with some melted chocolate and marshmallows.  I can't wait to try them out on my pumpkin pie recipe.  I'll let you know how that goes.

 

Kamut Graham Crackers

 

Ingredients

 



½ Tablespoon ground flax seed meal

¼ cup coconut oil
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons non-dairy milk
1 ½ Tablespoons water

1 cup Kamut brand flour

3 Tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon

 

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the flax seed meal, coconut oil, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, and water.  Let sit for a few minutes while the flax meal sets.
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Mix well.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until there are no dry spots.  The dough should be slightly crumbly but should stick together if you mush it with your hands.
5. Form the dough into a ball and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil (I didn't have much success with wax paper).
6. Place another piece of parchment paper or saran wrap on top of the dough and roll the dough out until it is fairly thin (approximately 1/4- 1/8 of an inch).  The baking soda will make it puff up a bit so rolling it thinner will help make the crackers crunchier. 
7. Cut the crackers into your desired size and shape using a pizza cutter, cookie cutter or pastry slicer and poke a few fork pricks into each cracker.
8. Bake the crackers at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown.  The crackers will be slightly spongy when you first pull them out of the oven but they will crisp up as they cool down.
9. Store the crackers in an air-tight container or zip lock bag to keep them fresh.

Note: If you prefer not to use coconut oil you can sub another oil, preferably a light oil in its place.  You may need to make some adjustments to cooking time and wet to dry ratio, however, to get the same light crisp that the coconut oil provides.

Back to School Special: Chocolate Almond Power Smoothie

 

This week marks the start of the 2014-2015 school year for the students here in Salt Lake.  It is also the week that I return to work after a summer that was way too short.  I can't believe it's already time to go back.  There were so many things I still wanted to do, most of which involved cleaning, sewing, and going to the zoo.  Oh well, perhaps next summer I will get more done.... maybe.... probably not sewing.... and who am I kidding, I'm not going to clean either.  Anyhow, this post is a Chocolate Almond Power Smoothie.  It's loaded with protein, omega-3's, and essential fatty acids that will jump start your brain and give your body energy so that you can focus on learning.... and recess.  It's also super quick and easy to make, which makes it the perfect before-school breakfast that your kids will love.  I used my dad's vita mix to make this one and it turned out amazing!  I must get one as soon as I have funding to buy a $300 blender.  Fortunately any blender or food processor will work in the mean time.

 

 

 

Chocolate Almond Power Smoothie

 

Ingredients:

 

1/3 cup almonds (soaked)

1/2 of a banana (frozen)

1/2 of an avocado

1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon raw sugar (or sweetener of choice)

2 teaspoons hemp seeds

1 teaspoon chia seeds

1/2 cup almond milk

Fresh fruit, granola, whipped cream (optional)

 

 

Directions:

 

1. Soak the almonds in water for 4-8 hours or overnight. 
2. Drain the almonds and place them in a blender or food processor.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth
4. Serve with fresh fruit, granola, or whipped cream if desired.



 

Millet and Chia Seed Breakfast Porridge

When I found out that my daughter was allergic to basically every grain except for kamut, millet, teff, and amaranth, I was at a complete loss as to what I was going to do.  Grains make so many wonderful things, especially things that are easy to grab for a quick snack such as cereal, crackers or granola.  I had no idea what to do with ANY of these grains.  It's not like they make crackers made out of only teff or only kamut (although they really should).  After doing some research on kamut, it quickly became my grain of choice.  As a form of wheat, I could pretty much sub it in place of any recipe that called for wheat and have it come out ok.  Unfortunately it's a little dry, but it's organic and non-gmo so I really can't complain too much since gluten free cooking can be a bit more problematic.  That still didn't solve the problem of what to do with the other grains, however. Teff is good but incredibly dense, and I didn't care much for the amaranth.

When a colleague suggested that I use millet as a replacement for rice, I jumped at the opportunity to try it out.  One of the things I had been craving like crazy was my grandmother's rice pudding.  It was actually more of a custard than a pudding; creamy, melt-in-your-mouth, goodness.  Sadly, the three main ingredients were milk, eggs, and rice, all of which were forbidden foods.  I decided I'd try to make it anyway without the three main ingredients using millet instead of rice.  The end result (this recipe) was nothing like my grandmother's pudding, but it is still very tasty and has become one of my favorite breakfast foods.  I like to make a big batch of it so that I can eat it for a few days.  It's easy to fix and keeps fairly decent in the fridge, although you will need to add a little extra milk to it as millet also tends to dry out a bit.  Millet is also incredibly cheap which is also a plus. 
  

 

In addition to being a good replacement for rice, the cooking process is also similar.  The only difference is that millet comes out better when toasted first.

 

I think that soy milk gives this recipe the best flavor, but I have used other milks in a pinch and it tastes just fine.

 

Add some puréed banana (Believe me you don't want to skip this part... unless of course your are allergic to bananas).

 

Millet and Chia Seed Breakfast Porridge

 

Ingredients:

 

1cup millet

2 1/4 cups water

1 1/3 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk of choice)

1 Tablespoon Chia seeds

1 Tablespoon raw sugar (or sweetener of choice)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup raisins

1 banana

 

Directions

 

1. In a saucepan, toast the millet over medium-high heat until it begins to turn golden and smell fragrant stirring frequently.  It will burn quickly so keep a close watch on it.
2. Add the water and a drop of oil (optional) and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 30-40 minutes.  Try to resist the urge to remove the lid as the millet will come out better if it is left covered.  Millet tends to be a bit crunchy so cook it longer if you want it a little softer.  Just don't overcook it or it will turn into mush.
3. While the millet is cooking, heat 1 cup of the soy milk and the chia seeds over medium-high heat stirring continuously until it reaches a low boil.  Do not heat too hot or it will boil over.
4. Add the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and raisins to the soy milk mixture.  Set aside.
5. In a blender or food processor puree the banana and the remaining 1/3 cup of soy milk.
6. Add the banana mixture to the soy milk mixture and stir well.
7. Add the soy milk mixture to the millet and mix thoroughly.  If the porridge seems dry add a little extra milk until it reaches your desired consistency.
8. Top with fresh fruit if desired.



Broccoli Cheese-less Soup

Panera Bread has the best broccoli cheese soup ever!!  It's so rich and creamy.  It's also ridiculously bad for you and loaded with ingredients that are on the do not eat list.  When I first started this diet trying to make anything with cream or cheese without the cream or cheese came out tasting.... well let's just say I gave up on trying to make it taste like cream and cheese.  Although I think that's really the point.  It's not dairy so why should I expect it to taste that way. I love cheese.  To this day it's the hardest thing I had to give up and the thing I would pick if I got to choose to have one thing back.  No offense to the vegans, but no vegan cheese will ever replace the real thing in my opinion.    However, I have to hand it to them for their creativity.  The discovery that I could use cashews (or any nut really) in place of dairy was a major breakthrough.  For the first time in almost a year, I was able to eat faux dairy and not cringe at how horrible the taste and texture was.  In fact, it was one of the most enjoyable meals I'd had in a long time.  Even if it didn't taste like cheese, it still tasted amazing.  This broccoli cheese soup is a product of that discovery.  It's fairly simple to make, and if you buy the cashews in bulk, it can be budget friendly as well.  It's vegan, grain free, and with some minor tweaking, it could also meet the paleo guidelines. With a side salad or a piece of homemade Kamut bread, it makes a wonderful meal that warms your soul just like the soup at Panera Bread.

 

 

 



 The basis for making delicious broccoli cheese soup without the cheese is pretty much the same as making it with the cheese except for one major difference.  It requires some advanced planning since the cashews will need to be soaked for several hours before you can make them into delicious cheese sauce.  Once you've done that, you just whip them up in a food processor with a few other things and you've got yourself some really awesome vegan cheese sauce.

 

 

 

 

Then you just proceed to make broccoli cheese soup just like you would if you were using actual cheese.

 

 



 

 

 

Broccoli Cheese-Less Soup

Vegan, gluten free, grain free, oil free

 

Ingredients:

 

For the Cheese Sauce:

 

1 Cup raw cashews soaked

3 cloves garlic

2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 Tablespoon potato starch

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 Tablespoon tahini

3 teaspoons Braggs Liquid Aminos

A Splash of almond milk

 

 

For the Soup:

 

2 cups carrot sliced

3/4 cup onion chopped

1 bunch broccoli (6-8 cups) chopped

32 oz. vegetable or chicken broth (5-6 cups)

1 1/2 cups almond milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Vegan Cheese (optional)

Crackers (optional)

 

 

Directions:

 

1. Place Cashews in a bowl, cover with water and let soak for 4-8 hours or overnight.
2. Blend the garlic in the food processor until it is finely chopped.
3. Drain and rinse the cashews.  Add them to the food processor and blend until a thick, chunky paste forms.
4. Add the nutritional yeast, starch, lemon juice, tahini, and Braggs to the food processor.  Blend until creamy.  If the mixture seems to thick or isn't blending well, add some almond milk as needed to thin it out.  It should have the consistency of hummus when it's done.  Set aside.
5. In a large pot combine the carrots and onions.  Add just enough broth to cover them and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer over medium heat until the veggies are tender adding more broth as needed.
6. Add the rest of the broth and stir in the cheese sauce.
7. Add the broccoli and bring the soup to a boil.  Simmer on medium-low heat until the broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
8. Using a blender or food processor, blend the soup in small batches until it reaches your desired consistency of creaminess. 
9. Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with vegan cheese and crackers if desired.

 

Tips/ Substitution Suggestions

 

• Replace the potato starch with another starch of choice (corn, tapioca)
• Replace the Braggs with soy sauce or a soy free alternative such as coconut aminos for a soy free option.
• Replace the almond milk with non-dairy milk of choice