Raw Lasagna!

Tonight I tried something very brave. My first truly "gourmet" raw meal: lasagna! I've made raw tacos in the past, but they were so easy I don't think they count. Now let me tell you this thing took me forever to make. Partly because I had to clean my "new" food processor I purchased at a garage sale for five bucks (yay!) and partly because I'm a very disorganized cook. Or uncook, whatever. I tend to glance over a recipe mainly for ingredients and think, "Yeah, ok, that sounds good." Next time I will definitely be more organized, and now I know what to expect. Mine isn't quite as pretty as the picture by the chef, but it was tasty. Tyler really enjoyed it too! The only thing is, I think it was a bit salty. Next time I'll cut the salt by half and see how that goes.

So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, my Raw Lasagna, recipe courtesy of acclaimed UK raw chef, Russell James!

Walnut Meat Layer

11⁄2 c walnuts, soaked 1 hour or more

1c sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 1 hour or more

2T dark/brown miso

2t dried oregano

2t dried sage

5T nama shoyu

1⁄2t cayenne pepper

2T olive oil

1T agave nectar

1t sea salt

O Grind all ingredients in a food processor, leaving the mixture slightly chunky.

Tomato sauce

11⁄2 c sun dried tomatoes, soaked for 1 hour or more

2 soft dates

2 cloves garlic

2c tomato, seeded and chopped

11⁄2T dried oregano

1t salt or to taste (depending on how salty your s/d toms are)

3T olive oil

2T lemon juice

O Process in a food processor until smooth.

Green pesto

2c tightly packed basil leaves

3⁄4c pine nuts or walnuts

1⁄2c olive oil

1t salt

1 clove garlic

1T lemon juice

O Process all ingredients, leaving plenty of chunkiness!

Nut Cheese

2c macadamias

1c pine nuts

2T lemon juice

2T nutritional yeast

2 yellow peppers

2T fresh parsley

1T fresh thyme

2t salt

1⁄2c water as needed

O Process all ingredients together adding as little of the water as possible until a fluffy consistency is achieved.

Spinach Layer

6c torn spinach

3T olive oil

2t sea salt

O Place all ingredients in a bowl to marinade and wilt for 1 hour or longer, putting the covered bowl in a dehydrator will help this process but it’s not essential.

For the assembly

5 medium Courgettes (zucchini), cut lengthwise and marinated in 2T of salt and 3T olive oil for 10 minutes.

Black pepper

Method:

O Line the base of your dish with a layer of the courgette strips that slightly overlap O On top of this put down a layer of the walnut meat, then the cheese, then tomato sauce and finally the pesto on top. Finish this with another layer of slightly overlapping courgette strips.

O Repeat step 2 but before adding the final layer of courgette, take your wilted spinach and create an additional layer with that. O Placing the whole dish in the fridge for several hours will firm it all up slightly which will make it easier to cut into portions.

O Garnish individual portions with black pepper and a sprig of basil.

Tip: For slightly more impressive looking lasagna; build individual portions on the plate instead of assembling in a large dish. This is what I did to create the lasagna in the photo.

The noodles are zucchini, cut thin on the mandolin then marinated in olive oil and salt.

Then you have layers of walnut "meat," macadamia and pine nut cheeze, tomato sauce, pesto, and one layer of "wilted" spinach, which I mixed with olive oil and salt and put in the dehydrator for an hour or so. This was seriously the best pesto I've ever had in my life! I may try to make pesto flax crackers. mmmm....

Tyler and I both got about halfway done with our big pieces and were pretty much full! I found that interesting, as a normal piece of lasagna I could inhale and ask for seconds (I love pasta, cheese, tomatoes, everything!). So we thought about it and came up with a little theory that is probably correct.

When you're on the aptly named SAD (Standard American Diet), the more you eat the more you want it. I'm sure more people than I have eaten our fill of fast food or pizza or what have you, then a couple hours later you start thinking, "Man, I'm hungry again!" This is because most things we eat that are considered "normal" have very little to no nutritional value (think white, processed sugar and flour, sodas, etc). Your body knows it needs and wants something else so it tells the brain, "Feed me!" Now when you are eating raw, you don't need to eat as much. I find I'm rarely hungry most days. When you are eating an abundance of produce (including nuts and seeds), your body says, "Ok, stop, it's all good I've got what I need." Body is happy, brain is happy, everyone is happy!

I also made grawnola and a "pumpkin" pie with a pecan date crust. Ty and I will dig into that about...now! I will post pictures tomorrow.