Vegan/Vegetarian Zucchini Lasagna

I turned one of my favorite foods into a semi healthy meal. I only say semi because I love cheese and if you didn’t know this cheese has a lot of grams of fat and salt, which isn’t as healthy for you when you are trying to lose weight. So in the recipe I made it two ways. Vegan and vegetarian, vegan for my family because most of them are vegan, and vegetarian because I for some reason am still stuck on cheese lol. I must add this is my own version of the zucchini lasagna from a cook in training. I may not be the best at it, but at least I try and make things my own. I’m a better baker, or so I think >.<

Each ingredient was chose because no added sugars plus they were all my favorites together. Lasagna has always been a wonderful greasy food that I loved eating. When I went on this health program I still wanted to be able to eat this food but in a healthier way.

I used this vegan meat because to me it taste good and it is already seasoned slightly. While making it, my preference it to not cook it longer than 5-10 minutes because then I feel it is overcooked. However, this is your dish so please make it your own. Do as you please to make it taste the way you like.

For my family’s lasagna I used this cheese. Makes the lasagna vegan plus this cheese has less grams of salt than regular cheese and still tastes pretty good, depending on your preferences. In this recipe I only use one type of cheese because I am trying to keep the calorie count down and make it as healthy as possible so I can still eat my favorite foods that taste delicious while changing my lifestyle and becoming fitter.

Making the sauce was my favorite part. When i say making I mean turning this store bought sauce into your own, giving it all the yummy flavors that you like to have in your sauce. I sautéed onion in a little olive oil and salt. When they became translucent I added the vegan meat crumble. I spiced it up with some dried herbs like italian seasoning, basil, and garlic & herb. After 5- 10 minutes of cooking the meat I added the sauce. I added more spices that I liked and let it simmer. This is the part where you make this lasagna your own. You make this sauce your own. Do what you want with it in a healthy way so that you like the way your lasagna comes out and you will want to eat it.

Next I sliced the zucchinis horizontally like lasagna noodles while the sauce simmered. In all honesty, this was my hardest task. I had trouble doing this when I didn’t have the proper tools. I used a cheese grader that had a sliced side, which I almost cut myself on since I was trying to get the most out of the zucchini. Not my proudest moment but hey I never admitted to being a good cook, just a cook in training lol

Lastly, I assembled the lasagna in a 5 by 7 inch pan with foil around it. Yes I used foil because it is easier for me to clean up. You don’t need to do it that way, thats my way, make it your own. Like I said, I am a cook in training not the greatest but I wanted to share my recipe with all of you.

This is the finished product of the vegan lasagna. This was for my family and they liked it but I made it a bit salty. That taught me that I need to watch my hand on the salt lol I was surprised when my mom said it was a bit salty since she LOVES salt on her food lol

This was my completed lasagna. I used a different type of cheese. I used organic Colby Jack cheese. All because I can’t let go of my cheese habit. Sometimes I feel like a mouse with how much I love cheese lol

Recipe :

Prep Time: About 20-40 minutes

Cook Time: 30-40 minutes

Feeds about 3-5 people

Ingredients:

• 2-3 zucchinis
• 1 jar of kirkland marinara sauce
• 2-3 cups of cheese (whatever kind that you want)
• 1 pack of light life meatless Mexican crumbles

Steps:

1. Sauté the onions in a sauce pan with some olive oil on medium heat.
2. Once they become translucent add in the pack of meatless crumbles and season it the way that you would like.
3. After 5-10 minutes of cooking the meat add in the jar of sauce.
4. Once the sauce is in the pot, add in all the spices you like. I added in italian seasonings, garlic & herbs, and basil.
5. Let the sauce come to a boil, cover it, and lower the temp.
6. Then slice the zucchini horizontally
7. If you are putting on the foil on the pan then do that. After about 20 – 30 minutes of simmering your sauce turn it off. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees.
8. Once sauce is done, put a small amount on the bottom of the pan, then layer the zucchinis add cheese then more sauce and cheese. Do this about twice so you have about two layers. I only did two layers but you can add more if you like.
9. On the last layer, put cheese and a little bit more sauce. Then put it in the oven for about 30 – 35 minutes covered with foil. The last 5 minutes take to foil off to crisp the top.
10. Lastly, let it cool for 5 – 10 minutes then it is ready to eat 🙂

This is my first time writing a recipe, so if I forgot something or I need more details please let me know. It will be appreciated so I can improve on my next few recipes. Thank you all for reading my blog and hope you all enjoy it all 🙂

(P.S. not all pictures are mine, some came from the internet because I forgot to take pictures of the ingredients)