Meatless Red Lasagna

Get ready for another Haphazard Recipe!

A few days ago, I was trying to figure out what to do with the crumbled remains of some homemade veggie burgers. My husband – wonderful MacGyver-style house hippy that he is – suggested that I season it and make lasagna.

I couldn’t see how this would work, as the meat substitute bore a distinct peanut flavor from the peanut butter in the burger recipe. But since I a) didn’t have a better idea, b) knew there was a partially empty box of lasagna noodles in the pantry, and c) will jump on any excuse to eat pasta, I decided to take the idea and run with it.

It worked out better than any meat lasagna I’ve made in the past (not because of the lack of meat, but it was exciting just the same). With a little tweaking of the original veggie burger recipe, this dish might just be something that the omnivores can eat without too much pain.

Note: Please keep in mind that the following recipe is approximate. Lasagna is a relatively flexible dish as far as the meat-veggie-cheese-noodle ratio is concerned.

The important thing is to keep the dish from being too watery if the noodles are pre-cooked (since there is nothing to absorb the water). It seems that the trick to this is pre-cooking your veggies so that they lose water beforehand. It’s unfortunate, since the cooking will reduce the nutritional value of the vegetables, but you can make up for it with a side salad full of leafy greens.

Since oven time is mainly for warming and melting, there’s no need to be overly concerned with temperature and cook time. Guesstimate for your own purposes. I went with an easy 350° for one half-hour.

Check it out:

Ingredients

• 1 box whole wheat lasagna noodles (might not use the whole thing)
• 3 cups ‘ground beef’ (see recipe below)
• 1-2 large green peppers – diced
• 2-3 medium tomatoes – diced
• 1 medium onion – diced
• 1 cup fresh mushrooms – chopped
• 2 cups low fat cottage cheese
• 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar, mozzarella, Colby Jack, or other preferred cheese
• 2 cups organic fresh baby spinach (optional; see Smart Cookie Tip below)
• 1 jar of your favorite natural red pasta sauce (might not use the whole thing)
• 3 garlic cloves – minced
• black pepper – to taste
• oregano – to taste
• basil – to taste
• thyme – to taste
• rosemary – to taste
• marjoram – to taste
• parsley – to taste
• celery salt – pinch or two to taste
• olive oil for cooking pasta and veggies (a few drops for each)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°.
2. Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot (adding a little olive oil will make it easier to separate them later). When the noodles are done, drain, and allow them to dry completely. Set aside.
3. Put the green pepper and onion into a skillet or saucepan (with a few drops of olive oil), and begin cooking on low heat. When they’re a little tender, add the tomatoes and mushrooms. Once all veggies are well cooked, and most of their liquid has separated into the pan, remove them from heat and drain.
4. Combine ‘ground beef’, cottage cheese, ¾ cup other chosen cheese, cooked veggies, garlic, about ½ cup of the pasta sauce, and spices (to taste) in a large bowl. Set aside.
5. At this point, you have the basic lasagna components: noodles and filling. Start to layer them in your baking dish, finishing with noodles on the top.
6. I added a layer of fresh organic baby spinach on top of the filling, under the noodles, to each layer. It’s not necessary, but does add nice color, texture, and flavor.
7. Once you have all the filling and noodles and spinach layered, pour some more pasta sauce over the whole thing. Top it off with the rest of the shredded cheese and a sprinkle of parsley or oregano on the very top.
8. Pop it, uncovered, in the oven for about one half-hour. If you want the top a little crispy, broil the lasagna for a few minutes at the end of baking time.

Ground Beef Substitute

I used broken pieces of veggie burger in my lasagna. This recipe is for the burgers, which can easily be turned into ‘ground beef’.

Note: You will be able to taste the peanut butter in this. For me, it was not a problem. I just added more Italian type spices to cover it up. The other option is to simply use less peanut butter. If you’re going to crumble the ‘meat’ anyway, you don’t need as much peanut butter to hold it together.

Try to use steel-cut oats rather than rolled oats. The difference is that the steel-cut variety retains more of the grain, leaving its natural nutrition intact. Rolled oats are not bad in any way, but simply not as nutrition packed.

With that:

Ingredients

• ¼ lb (½ cup) dry black beans
• ¼ lb (½ cup) dry pinto beans
• 1 cup dry bulgur wheat
• ¼ cup natural peanut butter (Meijer has a great one)
• ¼ cup plain steel-cut oats
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion
• cumin – to taste
• coriander – to taste
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• sea salt – to taste
• pepper – to taste
• olive oil for oiling baking sheet (1-2 tsp)

Yeild: 8-12 patties

Directions

1. Prepare the beans by first sorting through them to look for any bits of stone or leaf that might have crept in. This is standard with dry beans and other dried food items. Rinse them well afterward.
2. Soak the beans overnight before cooking, or boil them for two minutes and simmer for 2 hours (or until tender). Water to bean cooking ratio is 3-4 cups water for every 1 cup of beans
3. Once the beans are soft, mash by hand or process in a food processor.
4. Prepare bulgur wheat by boiling 2 cups of wheat with 4 cups of water. When all the water is absorbed (about 12 minutes) mix the wheat with the mashed beans in a large mixing bowl.
5. Mix in all other ingredients, and refrigerate the whole thing for about an hour.
6. Preheat your oven to 400°.
7. When the hour is up, form the mixture into patties, and place on oiled baking sheets.
8. Bake, flipping after 10 minutes, until the patties are brown and slightly crispy, about 20 minutes.

Tips for Smart Cookies

Buy your ingredients from local vendors who don’t use synthetics on their produce! Spinach is one of the most heavily pesticided veggies out there, so organic really matters.

If you’re in the Grand Rapids, MI area, check out the Fulton St. Farmers’ Market, open now through Christmas.

If you have trouble finding local spinach, Meijer carries Earthbound Farms Organic Baby Spinach for about $5. You get a lot, it stays fresh in the recyclable container, and it’s not covered in pesticides. Bonus.

If you don’t want the spinach in the lasagna, consider using it in a salad.

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