Day 1 - Vegan - Sweet Potato Lasagna

So as a nutritionist and one who gives advice on eating styles or provides information, part of the job takes research. One of the best forms of research is putting yourself in others shoes and experiencing things that others will go through. So one of the books that is featured at our store suggests moving toward a vegan way of eating to help prevent or reverse many of the top killers in the US cancer and heart disease. I read the book and do agree with many of it’s ideas and ways of eating. The most predominant aspect is the fact that we should all be eating “Plant Strong”. It suggests a 4 week trial on a vegan diet because of the damaging affects of eating a high dairy and meat diet. It gives a structure, recipes, and shopping list on how you can do it and enjoy it. I decided to give it a try. I figured I’m already about 85-90% vegan so it couldn’t be too hard. What a better way than this to be able to help customers find some of the suggested products (cause I’ll have to find them), to experience some of the benefits first hand, and to experiment with some of the great recipes. So, today is “vegan” day one. I had a great breakfast of a combination of cereals, almond milk, and fruit piled in a large bowl and a bean pita with veggies for lunch. Tonight I tried my first big recipe: Sweet Potato/Veggie Lasagna. It was soooo beautiful even before putting it in the oven and tasted great.
Here is the recipe in case you thought you might like to try it out :)

Sweet Potato and Veggie Lasagna

1 onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, all cloves chopped or pressed
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 package Silken Lite tofu
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon rosemary
2-28oz cans chunky tomato sauce
1 box whole grain lasagna noodles
16 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
4 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1 cup raw cashews, ground

Preheat oven to 400º. Sauté the onion and garlic on high heat for 3 minutes in a wok or nonstick pan. Add the mushrooms and cook until the onions are limp and the mushrooms give up their liq­uid. Remove them to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Reserve the mushroom liquid in the pan. Sauté the broccoli and carrots for 5 minutes and add to the mushroom bowl. Sauté the peppers and corn until just beginning to soften. Add them to the vegetable bowl. Drain the tofu by wrapping in paper towels. Break it up directly in the towel and mix into the vegetable bowl. Add spices to the vegetable bowl and combine.
To Assemble:
Cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole with a layer of sauce. Add a layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with sauce. This way the noodles cook in the oven, saving time and energy. Spread the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles. Cover with a layer of noodles and another dress­ing of sauce. Add the spinach to the second layer of sauced noodles. Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potatoes. Add another layer of sauce, the final layer of noodles, and a last topping of sauce. Cover the lasagna with thinly sliced roma tomatoes.
Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle with the cashews, and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.