Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Lasagna Night!

On Tuesday night, I taught my boyfriend Paul to make lasagna while we watched American Idol (go Lee DeWyze! yes, I'm that kind of nerd). Paul's not a vegan. In fact, he has the appetite of an overweight toddler — ridiculous amounts of fish sticks, Hamburger Helper, frozen TV dinners, pretzels, and ice cream.

In Jamie Oliver style, I'm trying to teach Paul to cook whole foods from scratch. I realize convincing him to go vegan is still a far cry from reality, but I'd least like to wean him off of eating processed crap. Learning to cook is the first step, right?

We each made our own pan of lasagna. Paul's had hamburger, ricotta, white pasta lasagna (the only kind he'll eat), marinara, and mozzarella. Here he is layering some noodles (sorry for the meat in the picture!) and acting like a goof. I promise he isn't cross-eyed in real life...

Here I am (or at least, here's my hands) layering my pan — rice pasta lasagna, marinara, basil-tofu ricotta from Vegan with a Vengeance, spinach, and Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella:

I'll spare y'all the pictures of Paul's finished meaty lasagna, but believe me when I say that it turned out surprisingly prettier than mine. I gave him the proper rectangle lasagna pan, while I settled for the oval pan:

My FYH cheeze totally liquified in the oven, so it looks a little funky but trust me when I say that it was amazingly delicious!

This was my first time using the rice lasagna (you don't pre-boil it at all!), and though it took ages to cook (a whole hour!), it was worth it. I love the chewier texture of rice pasta over whole wheat. I'll probably stick with rice lasagna from now on. Here's a sloppily-plated serving of my vegan lasagna:

Note: I added a little Daiya Italian Shreds to the top for this picture since the FYH melted off the top.

24 comments:

vegiebug said...

I think we have the same boyfriend! hahaha. If i'm not home to cook for him he just survives on lollies and chips :D The lasagna looks divine.

Sarah (GF vegan) said...

Your lasagne looks SO good. I haven't had lasagne since being vegan or gluten-free which is about 5 years. I'm a bit scared of making it to be honest... I'm tempted after this though!

amymylove said...

Has your BF watched Food Inc? Or Eating 3rd Edition? Really good videos! I think almost anyone can be enlightened... You just need to know what angle to hit them from!

The Health Sensei said...

wow i commend you for your patience/lenience with your boyfriend. I could never date a non-veg, too much conflict. hand him a copy of "The China Study" :D

Chocolate-Covered Katie said...

LOL that has got to be the cutest pic ever!

And your boyfriend looks like Moby!

P.S. His might've looked better, but I bet yours tasted better :)

Sarah @ See Sarah Eat said...

I hear you, I'm trying to teach my husband to branch out from his same ol' processed stuff too.

I made vegan pizza with daiya for my girlfriends last night and I was thinking it would be really good on top of lasagna. So lasagna might be my next project! :)

vegan.in.brighton said...

Yum, I think your lasagne looks pretty great. I might have to see if I can get my hands on some rice pasta lasagne sheets, I love rice pasta and I haven't had lasagne in ages.

When I met my now husband he survived on mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas. Now 6 years on he's still ridiculously fussy (he wont touch onion, mushrooms, courgette, aubergine or any kind of squash!) but he is eating less crap and he's almost vegan!

Kandi said...

that looks amazing! :)

Anonymous said...

I laughed at how you compared Paul to an overweight toddler. That's too funny. (I think he and my brother might be related) I think it's great that you're teaching Paul to cook. I think everyone should learn how to cook at least basic things for themselves.

Your lasagna looks delicious! I have never tried rice pasta before, I will have to give it a try.

Sarah S. said...

It's lasagna night at my house tonight. First time making vegan lasagna, excitement! Yours looks fab ;)

Keri - I Eat Trees said...

Your lasagna looks fantastic!! I love the first picture- haha!

jessy said...

i think your lasagna looks awesome, Bianca! hooray for really enjoying the rice noodles - they're my fav, too! i loooove cooking with dan and it makes me happyfaced reading about you and Paul having fun and cooking lasagnas together. yay!

The Voracious Vegan said...

HAHA! I love the picture of your lovah, that is hilarious! I want to come over for lasagna night! It looks deeeelish! I've only made vegan lasagna once but I've got to make it again soon!

Trinity (of haiku tofu) said...

Your lasagna looks awesome. I've recently been craving Italian food 24/7, so I WILL make this. I've never baked FYH before- I like the way it went all liquid melty! Mmmm. Mmmmm. PS I have a few omni friends who loved a tofu-ricotta lasagna I once made- Paul should try it!

Rikki Cupcake said...

Have you ever tried adding silken tofu along with the tofu ricotta? If you put the silken tofu in the food processor with a few tablespoons of tahini and a little lemon juice and fresh basil you get an amazing creamy cheese like texture. My bofriend is the lasagna king and he has been using that recipe since the early 90's, I think it might be from "Soy not Oi". It is crazy good and you should give it a go! (:

miss v said...

my lasagna always takes an hour to cook, so that wouldn't bother me in the least bit. i'm loving the idea of the chewier rice noodles. i can't wait to try them!

two vegan boys said...

Yum. I love lasagna. I will have to try the rice lasagna. It sounds interesting. And the melted FYH, I love melty cheezy lasagna.

Jessica said...

Whatever it takes to make cooking fun for everyone! Really, a lot of cooking is like playing with your food.

Morgan@LittleHouseofVeggies said...

Looks so delicious!!!

Anna said...

it's very rare in the UK to find a lasagne noodle that does have to be pre-cooked, and when I have tried to pre-cook some they all just stick together in a big clump! I love lasagne and the boys do too so I really should make it more, the one in Nonna's Italian (can't remember the full title!) is really really good and the recipe makes enough to eat one and freeze another one for later use which is useful.

Haven't found rice noodles over here either, in fact I've not even managed to find wholewheat organic ones yet, only white organic ones...

Unknown said...

This looks GOOD. I'm still trying to find the perfect vegan lasagna recipe.

Juliana said...

i feel shame of my lasanha when i look at yours :S
http://imonlycooking.blogspot.com/2010/05/lasanha-bolonhesa-de-pts-com-queijo.html

Juliana said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Erin said...

It's funny how you and Paul are like me and Dave. If it's not ready within eight minutes, Dave doesn't want to eat it, so he relies on canned soup, tuna sandwiches, fried eggs, chips and hot dogs. It grosses me out, but I know I can't change him! Sometimes he does Rice a Roni, which is cooking to him. Congrats to Paul for making real food!