Mini Vegan Lasagna's

I love my husband! I seriously bagged one of the good ones and I say a little prayer every day that I have him in my life. Not only does he love me for who I am, he also understands me and accepts me for the way I live my life. And I couldn’t be more grateful for that because it is truly one of the hardest things in life to find.

One of the most recent examples of his awesomeness is on Sunday the Riders were playing and we were going over to our friends house to watch the game. Devon had gone golfing in the morning and I had gone to get groceries for the week. While I was there I called him and asked if he wanted any game time snacks, and usually its just chips of some sort or a drink. However this time he asked if I would pick him up dry ribs….dun dun dunnn. As the main grocery-getter in the family and a vegan he knows that I do not pick up meat or eggs unless asked, I might get cheese for him but that’s where I draw the line. Most of the times he come with me to pick out what he wants for meat products (which is rare), so I don’t have too.

So I reluctantly say yes and go to the death (meat) section to find them and get out ASAP. Well with my luck they are no where to be found and I am caught in the viscous cycle of wandering around trying to find them. With no one around to help me, I start to have an slight anxiety attack and got that feeling of just wanting to get the hell out of the section. So I grabbed chicken wings instead and literally run to the living (produce) section.

When I got home one of the first things I said was “Please understand how difficult it was for me to pick these up…” then I started to cry my eyes out (I'm a crier!!)  Instead of him asking why I was crying or telling me to stop, he just pulled me in for a hug and said “I will never ask you to get those again, I can pick them next time” THIS IS WHY I LOVE THIS MAN! He is understanding and loves me! So thank you to the powers that be for bringing him into my life.

So in light of this event I thought it was time for something amazingly vegan, and one of Devon’s favourite meals. Mini Vegan Lasagnas! Every time I make my vegan lasagna he so kindly reminds me that it is amazing and that it can hold up to any meaty lasagna out there. Another great reason why I love him, he knows how to compliment a lady!

I have been meaning to make these for about two months now but I just haven’t been inspired to do so, until this weekend. They are cute individual sized lasagnas that are cooked in a muffin tin and enjoyed by all! I'm not too sure what was drawing me to make these but they seemed so much fun to make and it was a fun twist on a traditional meal. Plus I wanted to see how the quinoa tasted instead of using regular lasagna noodles.

I was a little wary because I wasn’t sure if they would hold their shape after they were removed from the tin, and that was one of the reasons why I liked them. They were mini lasagnas! Basically anything mini is so much better! And as you can see by the pictures they came out beautifully and tasted amazing!

I truly and utterly feel that the reason why these taste so great is because of the cashew cheese. If you plan on altering my recipe please do not omit the cashew cheese, trust me when I say that it is worth the extra step!

Mini Vegan Lasagna’s

2 cups quinoa, cooked

1 jar of vegan pasta sauce

2 medium zucchini, sliced thinly lengthwise, for 12 servings you will need 24 slices
1 tbsp of coconut oil

½ of medium onion, diced

1 cups of mushrooms, diced

2 red bell pepper, diced

4 cups of fresh spinach

2 cups of Daiya Cheese, mozzarella flavour (optional).

Cashew Cheese

1 cup of cashews, soaked overnight

1/2 cup of fresh basil

¼ cup of fresh lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp of nutritional yeast

¼ cup of water or vegan broth

Place all of the ingredients into a blender or a food processor and blend until smooth.

**While you are cutting up and cooking your veggies and making the cashew cheese, place the sliced zucchini on a baking sheet and put in the oven on the lowest temperature. That way you can cook off some of the excess water that they contain. I happened to do a load of dishes while cooking these so I would say I left them in for about 25 mins and they turned out perfect. If you don’t have time for this step, don’t worry because the quinoa will absorb some of the moisture too!

Sauté all of the veggie in a large frying pan until fork tender. Grease the muffin tins with some coconut oil so they are easier to remove. Then layer each muffin tin like so:

1)    2 zucchini slices
2)    1 large tbsp of Quinoa
3)    1 large tbsp of veggies
4)    1 large tbsp of sauce
5)    1 large tbsp of cashew cheese
6)    Optional - top with some Daiya

Take the ends of the zucchini and fold over until completely covered. I used some cashew cheese to secure the ends down if they kept popping up. Heat up the remainder of the pasta sauce and put aside.

Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 45 mins and serve with the left over sauce! Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo -N