What Am I Supposed To Do With That?: Raise-the-Roof Sweet Potato-Vegetable Lasagna

"Amazing" is what I wrote on the recipe page, p. 202. This is my daughter's favorite, and I made it for her as her last meal before leaving to study abroad. It has also become a Thanksgiving dinner tradition with family all helping to chop the many veggies. It's gluten-free if you use brown-rice pasta noodles. You can double the recipe or halve it (see photo towards end with dish sizes). And the left-overs are extra-yummy. :) There is more prep-work for this meal, that's why I save it for special occasions. It's so worth it, though! If you make the smallest version, the prep-work isn't too much. Bonus: you don't need to pre-cook the noodles.

Have you seen the life-saving documentary, Forks Over Knives? Fire-fighter and athlete Rip Esselstyn is in it showing how a whole-foods plant-based (wfpb) diet improved the health of his fellow firefighters and can be flavorful at the same time. This recipe is from his book, The Engine 2 Diet. I've been enjoying many of his recipes. His father is Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., famous heart surgeon who shifted his focus to reversing and preventing heart disease, proving heart disease need not exist at all when following a wfpb diet.

Ingredients: (conversions not verified by my kitchen scale, yet)

1 medium sweet potato or yam, cooked and mashed

8 oz (127 g) frozen spinach, thawed, drained/squeezed (see photo towards bottom)

8 oz (127 g) firm tofu, pressed, diced

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 head garlic, all cloves pressed or chopped

4 oz (113 g) mushrooms sliced

1/2 head of broccoli, chopped (I should have seen how many cups that is. See photo)

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 can [4about 5 oz (142 g) worth] corn, drained (can save liquid for cooking veggies)

1/4 tsp (1.2 g) cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp (2.3 g) basil

1/2 tsp (2.3 g) oregano

1/2 tsp (2.3 g) rosemary

1.5-2 jars pasta sauce [each jar at least 25.5 oz (722 g, 780 mL)] (may not need a full 2)

1 package (12 oz, 340 g) of whole-grain lasagna noodles (can use brown-rice noodles for gf)

1/2 c (113 g) raw cashews, ground (via blender, processor, or crushed in bag with hammer)

9 x 13 inch (23 cm x 33 cm) oven-safe dish

Aluminum foil to cover

L-R/T-B: yam/sweet potato, drained spinach, pressed and
diced tofu, onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli,
corn, red bell pepper, spices, ground cashews.
Not pictured: whole grain or brown-rice lasagna noodles,
jars of pasta sauce.

Directions:

-Do-ahead: Make sure the sweet potato is cooked (boil whole until soft, about 30 min, when knife can easily be inserted) and mashed, the frozen spinach is thawed and liquid squeezed out,* and the tofu is pressed and diced. *I tried fresh spinach, but the water content made the lasagna extra runny once cooked.

-Pre-heat oven to 400 F (200 C, gas mark 6)

-Sauté the onion, garlic, and mushrooms until onions are limp and mushrooms give up liquid, then place them in large bowl (reserve any mushroom liquid in the sauté pan)

-Sauté broccoli and carrot for 5 min. Add to same bowl.

-Sauté pepper and corn until just beginning to soften. Add to bowl.

-Add the tofu and spice to bowl. Gently stir and combine.

To assemble: (see the following 3 photos)

-Cover bottom of 9x13 in. dish with a layer a sauce. Add a layer of noodles, then cover the noodles with another layer of sauce. The liquid from the sauce will cook the noodles in the oven.

-Spread the veggies over the sauced noodles, add a layer of noodles then more sauce.

-Add the spinach on top (I have to use my fingers to pull it apart)

-Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potato (plop it on then spread thin)

-Add another layer of sauce, then noodles, then sauce. Make sure the top layer of sauce covers the noodles so the noodles soften. The original recipe calls for one 25 oz jar, but that just didn't seem enough. That's why I list 1.5 to 2 jars of sauce in the ingredients. You may not need the full 2.

-Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes

-Remove foil, add cashews, return to oven for 10 min.

-Remove from oven and let sit for 15 min before serving