by Anouk Booneman
While Spring may be officially here, it doesn’t feel that way yet. After a few balmy days, I replaced our heavy winter coats with lighter ones on the coat rack. I should have known better after 18 years in upstate New York; we are back to freezing temperatures for now.
Besides putting the coats away, I cleaned out the pantry, which is usually followed by a few “use up what you have” meals. The past few months I made a lot of lasagnas for people with different dietary requirements and found a few open boxes lasagna sheets hiding in the back of the pantry. Out of curiosity, I googled lasagna soup, which is actually a real thing. It’s the perfect recipe to use those broken bits and pieces of lasagna sheets and to use a few pantry staples. I use several brands of lasagna sheets and a very good gluten-free brand is the organic green lentil lasagna from Explore Cuisine. It can be found in the local supermarket or online. The taste is excellent (it doesn’t taste like lentils) and is very easy to work with. For the lasagna soup, I used a classic recipe found online that was very easy to convert to vegan. Over the weekend I also made baked crispy peanut tofu, a recipe from the Minimalist Baker that received rave reviews. This recipe is really easy to make and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. Trader Joe’s has a really nice and dense tofu (thank you Bill Hoffman for the tip) that I have been using. This tofu doesn’t need to be pressed for a long time and contains less water than the other brands. If you use a lot of tofu, I recommend getting a tofu press, a gadget that is worth having. It’s available online and is inexpensive. Tofu is a soy-based product that is very versatile and nutritious. Preparing it is not difficult, but it can be very bland if not done properly. We enjoyed this dish with noodles. I have several brands in my pantry. A favorite is King soba noodles for a gluten- free version, and recently we have really liked Momofuku soy & scallion noodles. Both can be found on the web. Momofuku also carries an excellent soy sauce and chili condiment.
Vegan Lasagna Soup
For the lasagna soup you will need
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Break the lasagna noodles into smaller pieces.
In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, oregano and thyme and cook until they start to soften
Increase the heat to medium heat then add the impossible beef.
Sauté until the impossible beef is fully cooked.
Add the tomato paste and combine. Cook for one minute
Add the wine, stir to deglaze the bottom of the pan
Add the tomatoes and their juice. Add the stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Cook the noodles according to the package directions, but remove when they are almost tender. Add the noodles to the soup and let simmer.
Dish up in soup bowls, add fresh parsley and vegan parmesan if using.
To make the parmesan (recipe from Minimalist Baker)
Use
Add all ingredients to a food processor and mix pulse until nuts are ground and grated parmesan consistency is achieved. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. This lasts for weeks and is the best recipe I have found so far.
Baked Crispy Tofu
( Adapted from the Minimalist Baker)
Peanut Sauce
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
I served these with noodles and sautéed shishito peppers. These have become readily available. I found mine at Trader Joe’s, but I have seen them at most local supermarkets.
At this point it’s ready to eat! Enjoy as is or with any Asian-inspired dish. We love it with our Mango Curry, Noodle-Free Pad Thai, or these Thai Noodle Bowls!
Anouk Booneman
Anouk is co-founder of Spring Into Health, was a baker at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and a language teacher before moving to Clifton Park. She believes that industrialized eating has created major health crises all over of the globe and that food can be the strongest medicine. She is also a yoga instructor