Butternut Squash lasagna

Each piece should have a tomato and piece of fried sage.

Shepherd's Pie

Our Shepherd's pie is a vegetable rich mix of Local Mushrooms, Local Carrots, Celery, Local Parsnips and Local Beets and the greens that they came with.  The whole thing is topped with Local Leek Mashed Potatos We would like to make a casserole a day.

Butternut, Blue Cheese and Apple Casserole

Casseroles are hearty and satifying. They are great for both families and singles . Make one a little bigger than you need and later when someone needs a quick bite they can heat up one serving at a time instead of getting the whole kitchen dirty. Singles can make this in a loaf pan and use only 1/2 a sqaush. I'll show you what to do with the other half in my next post. This recipe is very nice and easy to make and will be even better when we tweak it. I will slice the apples with a mandoline and use less fake blue cheese. I've also thought about adding rosemary and cherries or grapes. The old man can't get enough of this one. Everytime I open the fridge he's swipped another piece.
You will need:

1 big Butternut Sqaush

3 tablespoons of fake butter

1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, cardomom, allspice and salt

1 apple

2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

1/4 cup almonds, walnuts or pecans, chopped

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 squares of Fermented Tofu Cheese









1. Slice your butternut squash in half lenthwise and put face down on a cookie sheet. We use wax paper sheets in my house or we just spray the pan with a little oil. Put these in the oven on 350 until they are soft throughout.





2. Dig the meat out of the squash and mash it together with the spices. It doesn't have to be perfect.

3. Throw all of this in

your oil sprayed casserole dish and smooth it down.

4. Now add your Soy Bean Cheese that you got at the Asian grocery store. This one has chilis but yours doesn't have to. Spread this stuff around the top. Holly go lightly because this stuff packs a whollup. It's like a stinky gorganzola. A little dab'll do ya.

5. Slice the apple, dipping each slice lemon or lime juice on both sides to keep it from browning. (This is a good way to use less than perfect looking organic apples). Use a mandoline if you can or just try to get some nice even slices, not like I did here.

6. Place the apples on top in a pretty pattern.

7. Sprinkle nuts and brown sugar liberally.

8. Bake it untill bubbly and hot in the middle.

Moussaka

This Moussaka is a fave of mine. I made a bunch of this for my customers so you may want to cut back on the recipe.

For the sauce:

1 Onion
1 Package of Bob's TVP
1 cup water
1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos
2 Cans Tomato Sauce
1 small can Tomato Paste
4 Cloves Garlic
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves or 3-4 Whole Cloves
2-3 Bay Leaves

Soak the TVP in the Braggs and the water for 30 minutes. Chop the onion and put it in a saute pan with about an inch of water in it. Add the garlic, the spices and the TVP and cook it for about 10 minutes, turning it often. Add the tomato sauce and the the paste and let it reduce for about 30 minutes and set it aside.

Eggplant and Potato:

I usually partially peel my eggplant. I leave little strips of skin for decoration. Slice the eggplant and the potato into 1/2 inch slices. Put the potato in water to keep it from turning brown and put the eggplant on a salted clean towel and then add more salt and another towel on top of that and then cover the whole thing with something flat like a cutting board. You can also put some junk on it to weigh it down. I use my blender or cans. It doesn't matter. Leave them for an hour.

Meanwhile boil those potatoes until they are just done. Douse them with cold water to cool them down then set aside.

Bechamel:

Make a roux of non-hydrogenated fake butter and whole wheat pastry flour.
1/2 cup fake butter
1/2 cup flour.

Cook this for 5 minutes on a medium to low flame.

Very slowly add Soy milk. Add a little, let it heat up and then stir it around. Repeat until you've used around 2 1/2 cups of milk.

Add:
1/4 cup lemon juice
Salt
pepper to taste

Once everything is cooled you can assemble the casserole:
Layer the sauce down first, then the eggplant, then the potatoes, then the bechamel. Sprinkle with Paprika and bake at 350 until hot and bubbly.

vegan raw lasagna

Here is my version of a vegan raw lasagna. It's got a cashew and pine nut cheese, a fresh basil pesto, a sundried tomato sauce, zucchini, crook neck squash and fresh organic heirloom tomatoes.

And here it is in all of it's uncut beauty. The recipe is a doozy.


Cashew Cheez:

1 cup soaked cashews
1 cup soaked pine nuts
1 small handful of onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Process all together in a good blender until creamy. You will have to stop and start it and push down the edges a lot because the cheese is so thick but that's how you want it.

Tomato sauce:

1 cup soaked Sun-dried tomatoes
1 small tomato
1 small handful chopped onion
1 small sprig rosemary
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Process this in the same way as the cheese. Again, this should be very thick.

Pesto:

2 large handfuls of basil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup pine-nuts
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Process in a blender or a food processor

Thin slices of fresh zucchini and heirloom tomatoes.

If you don't have a good mandolin, use a potato peeler to get extra thin zucchini slices and then use a couple of layers in each layer (if that makes sense). Cut the tomatoes by hand.

Line a plastic container with plastic wrap.

Sprinkle the bottom layer with a little pesto and a little cheez. This will end up being the top so this is for garnish. Arrange the prettiest tomatoes you have on the next level. Next, layer the zucchini and then the tomato sauce, then more tomatoes, then pesto, then zucchini, then cheez, then pesto, then more zucchini, then tomato sauce, then more zucchini, then more pesto and finish with a layer of tomatoes.

Cover with the plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool. When cooled place a plate over the whole thing and invert. Remove the wrap. Cut with a serrated knife.