The Veggie Gal

I had some leftover lentils from my Chewy Lentil Loaf that I did not want to go to waste but felt like eating lasagna  for dinner, so I got creative and YUM it turned out great!

For some reason lentils and tomato sauce are amazing together and ever since this dish I even throw them into my spaghetti sauce.  You get the benefits of added protein, fiber and iron while enjoying the incredible blend of flavor and texture.

I really love my original Cheezy Vegetable Lasagna but tofu can be fattening and after all the holiday sweets & treats madness the scale numbers have creeped up a bit so in come more veggies to save the day.

I had some gluten free lasagna noodles on hand to try out and I was pleasantly surprised that they are just as good as regular wheat noodles.  If you use the oven ready noodles that you do not precook you will need to increase the spaghetti sauce amount to help them cook and to ensure you do not end up with a dry lasagna.  I really like the oven ready noodles and when I use them I use two full jars of spaghetti sauce but since these noodles are cooked beforehand I only needed 1 1/2 jars so I store the extra in the fridge for another day’s use.  I know it may sound weird but I enjoy dipping baked tortilla chips in left over sauce like you would salsa, just an idea

With this lasagna you can really just clean out your veggie drawer by using your favorite or left over veggies to make it just to your taste.  Pretty much everything in this recipe is just by taste including the spices just throw everything you love into it and it should be pretty tasty.  Depending on the sauce you use this would probably be a Dr. McDougall approved dish.

Very veggie lasagna
Serves: approximately 8

9 Lasagna noodles
1 1/2 jars of your fav spaghetti sauce
1/2 onion
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 head broccoli, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, shredded
2-3 handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
1-3 handfuls  precooked lentils (or amount you like)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
a few generous sprinkles of nutritional yeast flakes (to add cheesy flavor-no needed if you do not have it though)

Cook the noodles according to the package directions making sure they are not overcooked.

While the noodles cook steam the onion, garlic, broccoli, and celery in a small amount of water for about 5 minutes.  Add the shredded carrot and spinach and cook for another 5 minutes or so until everything is softened and water it pretty much gone (or drain off water).  Add the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper then set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Pour 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking pan and spread around evenly.

Lay 3 noodles in the bottom of the pan, spread 1/2 of the vegetable mixture on top of the noodles then sprinkles with desired amount of nutritional yeast flakes.  Repeat with 3 more noodles and remainder of the vegetables and more nutritional yeast flakes.

Place 3 noodles on top of the two layers and top with the remaining spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with more nutritional yeast.  Cover pan with foil and bake for 40-55 minutes, until bubbling.   Remove from oven, remove foil and cool for approximately 10 minutes so it can set up then cut, serve and ENJOY!

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Tags: Dinner, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Healthy Meal, Pasta, Vegan, vegan recipe, Vegetarian, very veggie lasagna