100th Recipe! Vegan Summer Veggie Lasagna

I could not have been happier to have our 100th recipe be an amazing VEGAN dish. I was also extremely happy to share this meal with Jim, his cousin John and his girlfriend Tracy, who have all been such a HUGE influence on me in terms of being vegetarian and eating healthy. I learn something new from them every time I see them, and they have the most exquisite organic garden I have ever seen. Had it not been for them (and Jim, of course) many of the blog’s recipes may never have even come to fruition. So thank you Jim, John and Tracy and thank you to everyone who has checked out the blog- here’s to many more recipes to come! 🙂

12 lasagna noodles (remove 2 inches or so off so it fits in an 8 X 8 pan), cooked

5 tomatoes, sliced

1 large zucchini, sliced into thin rounds

1 large summer squash, sliced into thin rounds

1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped

1 cup Daiya or other vegan shredded cheese

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

1 tbsp dried oregano

4 gloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp white wine

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cayenne pepper, minced

Salt & pepper to taste

FOR “RICOTTA” CHEESE

2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight

1/3 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup chives, chopped

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

3 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
In a frying pan over medium heat, cook cayenne and onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for 1 minute
Add white wine, then add tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and reduce to low heat
Cook on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add garlic and cook for an additional minute, then remove from heat
Meanwhile, in a smaller frying pan, saute zucchini and summer squash rounds in 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften
Then for the “ricotta”, add cashews, cider vinegar, lemon juice, honey and 2 tbsp olive oil in the food processor and blend well
Add chives, nutritional yeast and garlic and pulse until creamy
To prepare lasagna, add 1/3 of tomato sauce to the bottom of an 8 X 8 baking pan, layer on top with 4 lasagna noodles, add 1/3 of “ricotta” mix, then top with half of the zucchini/squash mix
Repeat layers 2 more times. You should end up with “ricotta” on the top layer once the veggies are gone, in which you top the “ricotta” with the 1 cup of Daiya or vegan cheese (it’s fine to use shredded Parmesan if you don’t want to be completely vegan)
Cook, covered, at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, then cook uncovered for an additional 10 minutes