Occasionally a post from here will be reblogged on another site. I am always interested to see who is interested in which recipe and I check out the blog. Fitness Over Sixty reblogged the Thai Spring Rolls and called out to all vegans to take a look at the recipe. Theauthor introduced the re-blog by saying “I love this chef, although he is all carnivore, he knows how to cook.” I loved it. Yes I am. I eat it all (and too often too much of it). That is one reason why I am always excited to feature guest bloggers that make wonderful, healthy food. I would like to welcome a new guest blogger, Diana. She is the author of the Foodnthoughtpeddler blog and fits the bill of making wonderful, healthy food. Welcome Diana…
A few words about me and my approach to food and nutrition:
I have a “typical” NYC life – read “here, there, everywhere”, I’m a clinical social worker with a full-time hospital job, part-time private practice and a teen to raise, but no matter how busy you are, there’s always time for good food and a soul-touching conversation to be shared with family and friends, either in person or through my blog. And even though I don’t eat gluten and dairy and avoid soy and eggs as much as possible, I strive to prepare dishes that would be satisfactory to everybody (or at least provide two versions on my blog, regular and gluten/dairy free). Also, as a cancer survivor, I’m very conscious about my food choices concentrating on fresh, nutrient-dense offerings with an adequate amount of good fats and oils. Somehow it’s worked for both of us so far: I remain cancer-free for the past 5 years, and the kid appears to be not just surviving but also thriving (6 ft tall at 14:) ).
This recipe is my son’s favorite, though he has no idea there’s no wheat, milk, cheese or butter in it, plus some added ingredient of the butternut squash. You may substitute wheat pasta or noodles for the rice ones I’m using (though I do love the taste and light texture of rice noodles, they give kind of alazy lasagna feel). I’m using coconut milk and mozzarella style daiyacheese for this recipe (daiyais a plant-based and soy-free cheese that tastes and melts remarkably similar to mozzarella), you may substitute regular mozzarella shreds for daiya, however, I’ve never tried making this recipe with cow’s milk, but you don’t really taste the coconut milk once the dish is done. And, lastly, I love butternut and can eat it all year round, but I’m only willing to deal with it if it comes pre-cut because ordinarily you’d need a couple of sumo wrestlers to open one up and cut into some manageable pieces. My condolences to the actual people who had to work on the nice box of already cut squash 🙂
2 cups of cut butternut squash
1 package or 16 oz rice (or wheat) noodles/pasta
1 can of unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups of daiya (or mozzarella shreds)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2-3 tablespoonsof bread crumbs (I used gluten free)
1 tablespoon of oil spread (I used Earth Balance, soy-free too) or butter, melted
salt, spices to taste (I used Herbamare seasoning blend)
oil cooking spray
fresh herbs for garnish
optional: bacon bits or strips (I used smoked turkey bacon)
Prep time: 30-40 min (depending if you have to cut the butternut yourself), Cook time: 20 min.
Put 2 medium sized pots with water to boil, once boiling, add some salt into each of them and use one to cook noodles/pasta and the other to cook butternut.
Both are made pretty quickly, about 5-7 minutes, so take care as not to over-cook. Drain both, rinse noodles if using rice ones and let both cool off for a couple of minutes.
In a blender (I used Magic Bullet) combine butternut, coconut milk, garlic powder and spices and blend until smooth (taste and add more spices if needed).
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Cover the bottom of a lasagna pan with an oil spray and lay out the noodles/pasta, add the butternut mixture and daiya/cheese and mix well. Combine bread crumbs and melted oil spread/butter and sprinkle over the dish.
Optional: add some bacon strips/bits on top (my son’s favorite, you say “bacon”, you see a rare occurrence on a teen’s face – a smile 🙂 ). Bake for 15-20 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh herbs.
Enjoy!
