Vegan Lasagna

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Lasagna is one of those meals that can require some time, but the pay-off is that is can be done ahead of time. It is a great dish to prepare during the kids’ nap or quiet time, then place in the refrigerator until an hour before dinner time. Or make it one day and freeze it for another. Since it can be kept frozen, it is also a great meal to gift a family with a new baby. Those early weeks can be exhausting for the family to juggle a newborn, children, pets, household chores, sleep, and not to mention the person who carried/labored the baby needs to recover. A freezable meal to offer someone is (in my opinion) one of the best gifts to give. It takes grocery shopping, meal prep, cooking, and some dirty dishes off their plate. If you happen to be the person preparing to have a baby, you can treat your future self and family to an amazing meal, by freezing a lasagna.


Lasagna is very easy to make plant-based. With all of the vegan cheese and imitation options found on the market, one can simply substitute and make a traditional red sauce, meaty, and cheese lasagna completely vegan. But, if you are trying for a whole food plant based option there are easy substitutes that don’t require processed foods.

Considering a vegetable lasagna for a moment- you will need to decide which veggies you and your family would like to eat in their red sauce lasagna. You can really grab whichever produce needs to be consumed, but my favorites are mushroom, spinach (or kale), green peas, carrots, and zucchini. Next comes the herbs- basil, Italian seasoning, oregano, pepper. While my pot of water is boiling for the lasagna noodles, I quickly prep the veggies. Cutting the vegetable to be similar in size will help them cook evenly. I saute them in a pan using only a tablespoon or two of water and my herb mixture.

While my lasagna past is cooking I also make the “ricotta”. There are a couple different ways to make vegan ricotta. One recipe I have shared before, by Brandi Doming at TheVegan8.com, would work great. However, I tend to use a different recipe. There are variations of this vegan ricotta recipe all over the Pinterest boards, but the recipe I like to use is posted below. Once the ricotta is made, the noodles are al dente and the veggies are sauteed, layer all the ingredients as you would normally for the lasagna. As far as the marinara- some people will decide to make their own from scratch, which is a great idea if you have an overzealous tomato plant. I typically go with store bought marinara. Sauce, pasta, ricotta, veggies, sauce, pasta, ricotta, veggies, sauce, pasta. I like to add a light layer of sauce and a dusting of nutritional yeast on top. Then I cover with foil (here’s where you can save it for later) and bake at 350F for 40 minutes. I remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes, until bubbling.

Raising Vegan Tip- When shopping for a vegan marinara be sure to check the ingredients. Look out for added sugars, chemicals, or oil. I prefer to use organic marinaras which omit unnecessary sugars. Currently, my favorite brand is Organico Bello Pasta Sauce and the ingredients listed are tomatoes, onions, evoo, sea salt, basil, garlic, white pepper, black pepper. I love that is says Vegan on the jar!

Ricotta recipe

Ingredients:

1 10 oz package Plain organic garlic chickpea hummus

1 block of super firm tofu

1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 tbsp of dried basil

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in medium sized bowl until well combined. May need to use hands or masher to break up tofu. Refrigerate or use immediately.

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3 Myths about Raising Vegan

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Common Myth #1

Vegan children will have stunted growth.  False!  According to a 1991 study, performed in Southern California assessing over 1700 children, vegetarian children were actually on average taller (by roughly 1 inch) than those raised on meat and dairy.  These children were also leaner.  The meat consuming children had an increased risk of obesity.

Source: “Attained height of lacto-ovo vegetarian children and adolescents.”  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2010 May; 91(5):1525S-1529S.

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Common Myth #2

Vegans are protein deficient.  False.  The protein requirements are not different based on the type of diet a child consumes.  Complete proteins are found in plants.  In a single cup of almonds you will find 20 grams of protein!  That’s the same amount as a T-bone steak, but without the high cholesterol, fat, sodium, and so on.  The reality is people don’t suffer from protein deficiencies.  FIBER deficiency?  Yes!  So instead of worrying about the type or amount of protein, people should focus on their fiber intake.  The same goes for our children.

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Raising Vegan Tip- Think about this- Gorillas, Elephants, and Rhinos all eat plant-based diets and they are some of the strongest in the Animal Kingdom.  PROTEINS COME FROM PLANTS! 

Common Myth #3

Vegan children are overall malnourished or unhealthy.  False.  The health consequences of a child eating a Standard American Diet (SAD), which contains meat, eggs, and dairy is scary. 

Obesity.  Sadly, childhood obesity has increased by 100% in the US, as stated in Dr. Greger’s book How Not To Die.  He also mentions that research shows that 75-80% of obese children will continue to be obese as adults.  Childhood obesity also correlates with an increase risk of diseases (gout, colorectal cancer, arthritis) and death.  

A study in 1989 showed that over 50% of children at the young age of 14 had early stages of atherosclerosis (plaque within arteries or blood vessels).  1989! We had this information 30 years ago.  

“Evolution and progression of atherosclerotic lesions in coronary arteries in children and young adults.” Korean Circulation Journal. 1989.

Diabetes and Prediabetes.  20 years ago Diabetes was categorized as “Adult-onset” and “Juvenile”.  It was assumed that children had Type I Diabetes, but since the SAD continues and obesity in children has been on the rise, Type II Diabetes has been diagnosed among are children and can no longer be termed “Adult-onset”.  The harsh reality of children diagnosed with Type II Diabetes is the increased chance of these children suffering from secondary complications, such as blindness, kidney failure, limb amputation (neuropathy), and ultimately death.  


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You may be wondering how veganism relates to Diabetes since Diabetes Mellitus is a condition of eating too much sugar, right?  Wrong!  Science shows that it is NOT the sugar intake that causes Diabetes, but rather the FAT.  The fat, also known as lipids, deposits into muscle and liver tissues.  This results in insulin resistance.  (I’ve skipped a few boring biochemical pathways here…but if you care to dive deeper into the biochemistry feel free to listen to the lectures by Drs. Neal Barnard, Michael Greger, Michelle McMaken, or Garth Davis.  These EXPERTS all do a fantastic job of summarizing Diabetes and fat intake.)  When you eat animal products such as meat, eggs, or dairy you are consuming a large amount of saturated fat with each bite.  Therefore, the best way to prevent Diabetes is to limit FAT intake by eating a plant-based diet.

Ready to start Raising Vegan!?!  Fantastic! First grab a Vegan Meal Planner, designed by yours truly. It is the perfect place to put all your notes, weekly meal plans, and grocery lists. Next, find a reliable plant-based meal plan such as the one created by Physicians Committee.

Tempeh & Vegetable Stir fry

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Using a combination of a few ready-made items, this dish is fairly easy, fast, and tastes delicious!  I like to use Trader Joe’s Asian Vegetables, but I do not use the sauce.  The veggies, though frozen, cook nicely without becoming soggy or tasteless.  Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki sauce is a great add to this dish, but it will increase the sodium levels.  For the chick’n, I use Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n.  I do enjoy the sauce that comes with this product and will use it when cooking the chick’n.  It blends well with the Island Soyaki sauce.  Another lighter option (Stage 3 vegan) is to use tempeh (pictured above) instead of Gardein chick’n.  There are several recipes online for Vegan Teriyaki tempeh.  I like to use VNutrition‘s recipe, when I have more time to invest in the tempeh.

Be sure to sit aside some steamed veggies and rice for your Littles to enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 baby bok choy (cleaned)

12 oz sliced Golden Oak Shiitake mushrooms (cleaned)

5 oz sliced bamboo shoots

8 oz baby corn

1 package of Trader Joe’s Asian Vegetables (frozen)

1 package of Gardein’s Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n

2 cups brown rice

2 stalks of steamed broccoli chopped

1/4 cup Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki

Directions:

Cook brown rice by boiling for ~ 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.  Cut bok choy into ~ 2 ” pieces.  Drain and rinse canned baby corn and bamboo shoots.  Prepare the Gardein chick’n per directions for stove-top.  Apply the sauce once the pieces are properly browned. Lower the heat and add rice to the chick’n, stirring often to prevent burning of the rice. While the chick’n is cooking, on medium heat, place frozen vegetables in a pan and cook until warmed throughout ~ 5-8 minutes, careful not to overcook.  Add bok choy, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms and place lid over pan.  Allow the pan to steam until mushrooms and bok choy are soft.  Add ~ 1/4 cup of Island Soyaki to the vegetables.  Once the sauce is warmed and the vegetables are coated evenly remove pan from stove-top.  Serve by plating the vegetables on top of the rice and chick’n mixture or combine all of the ingredients prior to plating.

round logoRaising Vegan Tip:  Cook the rice earlier in the day and set aside.  This will lessen the total cooking time for this dish.  You can also focus on not overcooking the rice when it is done at a more convenient time.  You can also wash and prep the bok choy while the rice is cooking.

This recipe feeds two very hungry adults.  The Littles can enjoy the brown rice and vegetables (carrots and broccoli) prior to seasoning.  I usually prepare my Littles’ broccoli and carrots separately by steaming them.  As long as the broccoli is VERY soft, they have no problem eating them.  We call them “green flowers” in our home.