Gluten-free Tofu-free Vegan Eggplant-Chanterelle Lasagne

Luckily, my housemate has an amazing camera that captures STEAM, of all things delightful.... :-) and so I was fortunate enough, in my lifetime, to be able to take this beautiful photo of my own culinary creation. Anyway, the recipe:

"I am filled with chanterelles," it said, truthfully, as my sister took her first bite of the tasty lasagne. I know what you're thinking. But she would not have cared if that lasagne began to speak Elvish to her; she was merely concerned with the taste, and it tasted heavenly. And Elvish.

In other news, there was an eggplant, a small squash of choice (honestly, I do not remember if I used acorn or not), broccoli romanesco (closer to cauliflower, in my opinion), and a parsnip. Use one package of gluten-free lasagne noodles (I used Tinkyada Pasta Joy Brown Rice noodles), one 7-ounce container of vegan pesto (try Rising Moon Organics), and anywhere between one and three cans/jars of the pasta sauce of your choice.

Here are the rules:
Bake your squash. I recommend chopping it in half, lengthwise, and baking the halves face-down in a glass pan with 1/4-inch of water to help steam the insides.. at 375 degrees F, for 30 minutes or more.
Boil the lasagne noodles according to directions, then make sure to SEPARATE them by laying them out individually in a single layer. Very important.
Mix pesto with red sauce in a bowl. Get yourself a casserole dish, lightly oil it on the bottom and sides, then spread a fresh coat your pasta sauce mix on the bottom. Not too thick, now.
Put a layer of noooooodles.
and your choice of veggies.
and sauce.
and noodles.
more veggies.
more sauce.
aaand noodles!
and then sauce.
Repeat until you run out of veggies (or approach the top of the casserole dish... don't you overflow it ;-) !
End with noodles, of course, and now for the "cheese" topping.

I mixed two tablespoons of hazelnut milk with one tablespoon nutritional yeast, forked it up. I personally added some Yumm! sauce, as well... which can only be found at Cafe Yumm in Eugene, Oregon. Anyway, top your top-noodles with your cheesiness and bow. Bow lower. There. Put it in the oven at 375 F without a cover for 15 minutes. Then put a cover on it and continue baking it for another 15 or 20 minutes. I recommend allowing it to cool for 10 minutes with the lid off before slicing into it, if you want any of it to stay together :-)

ENJOY YOUR LASAGNE! And spell it correctly ;)

I Believe in Magic.

I believe Reality, as a whole, is more than merely physical, mental, and emotional capacities. I believe all beings have the ability to utilize senses beyond kinesthetic, visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory boundaries. I also believe we can use these 5 basic senses as vehicles to trigger the use of these superior senses. Here's my handful of pennies for the day: Start with food. Feel the textures of your food before and after you have prepared them... use your hands, your mouth. Slice a carrot in half and become ultra-aware of the aroma subtly slipping off the flesh of that root and dancing into your nostrils. Look at the way the carrot bends before it snaps in half, and how the muscles under its skin tear and stretch before they become frayed. Remember to listen when that carrot breaks into little pieces of itself, and when you crunch it between your canines and when it later mixes with your salivary alpha-amylase (spit) to become a soft mush :-)... then what does it sound like; what does it feel like? And finally, swallow that lush mush of a carrot and taste the wonders of something so simple that it grew out of the dirt of the earth. Then tell me you don't believe in magic.