Vegetarian Lasagne

Today I’m going to share a great vegetarian lasagne recipe I found in an old Australian Healthy Food magazine.

We have just returned from a quick get-away in Melbourne. The food at all the little cafés and restaurants is always great.

We went to this out of the way little Italian place and had the best lasagne and tortellini. Though these were not vegetarian dishes it did remind me of this recipe and I thought I would share it.

This Vegetarian Lentil and Ricotta lasagne is full of flavour, quite filling and is a great way to get more vegetables into your diet. I halved the below recipe and it fed 2 people for 2 nights.

Vegetarian Red Lentil and Ricotta Lasagne.

Ingredients

½ cup red lentils

2 teaspoon Olive oil

3 garlic cloves – crushed

1 large onion – chopped

1 small red capsicum (**I left this out as we don’t like capsicum)

**I added sliced mushrooms instead

2 zucchinis – sliced

1 stalk celery – sliced

2 x 420g cans diced tomatoes

2 tablespoon. tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 ½ cups ricotta cheese

12 lasagne sheets (I use Gluten Free sheets)

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

¼  cup grated parmesan cheese

 

White Sauce ingredients

1/3  cup corn flour

3 cups milk

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

 

Method

*Preheat oven to 180 c.

*Rinse the lentils then put them in a pan with enough boiling water to cover them. Simmer for 30 minutes then drain.

*Heat oil in a large pan and add garlic & onion. Cook for approx. 2 minutes. Add the celery, capsicum and zucchini and cook for 2 -3 minutes.

*Add lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano and 1 ½ cups water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for approx. 30 minutes.

*Meanwhile make the White Sauce.

*Mixing the corn flour with 2 tablespoons of milk until smooth. Pour into a saucepan with remaining milk and stir over low heat until the mixture thickens. Add the nutmeg and add pepper to taste.

*Put the ricotta into a bowl and mix in ½ cup of white sauce.

*Spread a layer of tomato lentil mixture over the base of your lasagna dish. Then put a layer of lasagna sheet. Add another layer of tomato lentil mixture and top with a layer of the ricotta mix.

*Keep layering the lasagna sheets and then tomato and ricotta layers till done.

*Pour over the white sauce and sprinkle with the grated cheeses.

*Bake for an hour, covering with foil if the top starts to brown too much.

Let it stand for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy.

Till the next post,

Live Clean and Prosper

A Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe

Today I’m sharing a Chocolate Chip cookie recipe.

A friend of mine put me on to it. These cookies have a surprise ingredient and are healthy enough to eat for breakfast. They taste great, are gluten free and keto friendly (so low in carbohydrates).

The recipe is from a site called Sweet as Honey and the cookies are really quick and easy to make.

I started to get my ingredients measured out and I realised that I was short on Almond flour. So, I made a small change and have shared the recipe with my changes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 16

Ingredients

1 large egg – at room temp. & lightly beaten

75 g unsalted butter – melted

100 g Monkfruit sweetener

60 g zucchini – finely grated and with excess water removed

85 g almond flour

85 g buckwheat flour (for added fibre & protein)

½ teasp baking powder

1 teasp ground cinnamon

¼ teasp ground ginger

¼ teasp ground nutmeg

¼ teasp salt

1 teasp vanilla extract

50 g chopped pecans

80 g sugar free chocolate chips

Method

* Preheat oven to 160’c. and line baking tray/s with parchment paper and set aside

* Finely grate the zucchini with skin on. Then placing the grated zucchini in the centre of a clean tea towel, wrap and squeeze bundle to remove all water. (This is important so as to avoid soft cookies)

* In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg with the melted butter and sweetener.

*Stir in both of the flours, zucchini, and baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and vanilla.

* Once thoroughly combined, stir in the chopped pecans and chocolate chips.

* Use a tablespoon to scoop balls of the mixture onto the trays.

* Wet your hands and lightly press down on the balls of mixture to flatten and shape the cookies.

* Bake in the centre of the oven for 15 minutes or until slightly golden on the edges.

* Cool on a cooling rack for a least 30 minutes before eating. They will firm up at room temperature.

* The cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. The cookies can be frozen in zip lock bags to keep for longer if necessary.

I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as we do.

If you want to try more keto friendly baking, check out the Sweet as Honey website for more ideas.

Till the next post,

 

Live clean n Prosper.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

Today I am sharing a Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes recipe, which is Dairy free and Gluten free. Yes, you read that correctly, chocolate and zucchini.

I came across this recipe on the Internet and I was curious. It is from a site called Paleo grubs. They have some great recipes and this one is awesome.

This is a really sneaky way to get the kids to eat vegetables. Bake them into chocolate cupcakes!

The recipe was shared as bread, however I ladled my mix into cupcake papers instead. I was happy with the result and they are very tasty.

**An update on this – I have made this recipe again as a slice. Using a 20cm square pan. Very successful**

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

(Makes 12)

Ingredients

2 large eggs

¼ cup maple syrup or honey (I used Maple syrup)

1 cup almond butter

2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

¼ cup cacao powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup grated zucchini

2 tbsp dairy free dark chocolate chips (optional)

Method

* Preheat oven to 170’ C – 160’ C for fan forced.

* Prepare your tray with cupcake papers (or choice of pan with parchment paper) and set aside.

* In a small bowl combine the cacao powder and baking powder. Set aside.

* In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and syrup (or honey) and beat until pale and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.

* Add the almond butter, almond milk and apple cider vinegar and beat to combine.

* Add the cacao powder mixture and mix until well combined.

* Fold in the grated zucchini.

* Pour the batter into the cupcake paper (or prepared pan).

* Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

* Bake for 30 – 35 mins for cupcakes (35-45 minutes for a slice or loaf tin) *       Test with a toothpick, when inserted into the centre comes out clean.

* Remove from the oven and let cool before eating.

We hope you enjoy this recipe.

 

Till the next time,

Live clean n Prospe