Vegetable lasagna, bruschetta, & mixed green salad


A bottle of red, a bottle of white
It all depends upon your appetite
I’ll meet you any time you want
In our Italian Restaurant.
-Billy Joel, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”

So, we weren’t actually in an Italian restaurant, but in our home, making one of my favorite meals when we have company over.

On tonight’s menu was vegetable lasagna with tofu ricotta, kale, zucchini, and summer squash from our CSA, an organic mixed green salad (also from the CSA), and bruschetta using local tomatoes and sourdough bread from Ithaca Bakery. We also had a local semi-dry Riesling from Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars as recommended to us by the very knowledgeable staff at Sparrow’s Fine Wines in Ithaca. Dessert included lavender lemonade cupcakes (see previous post) and Ciao Bella‘s Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet.

The vegetable lasagna recipe is a regular favorite of ours. The recipe comes from You Won’t Believe It’s Vegan! – 200 Recipes for Simple and Delicious Animal-Free Cuisine by Lacey Sher and Gail Doherty (former owners of Down to Earth, New Jersey’s first organic vegan restaurant). Usually it is made with spinach and sweet potatoes, but we altered the recipe tonight to include veggies from our CSA this week. It is always a big hit with vegans and non-vegans alike!

As usual, the lasagna gets a 5 out of 5 carrots on my veganlicious meter!

The bruschetta was a recipe I whipped together using the following:
1 large tomato diced
3 small garlic cloves chopped finely
3 large basil leaves chopped finely
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
10 inch thick slices of a sourdough baguette
olive oil spray

Mix all of these ingredients (except the bread) together in a bowl and let them refrigerate for about an hour. Cut slices of a sourdough baguette and spray one side of them with olive oil. Put them in a toaster oven or conventional oven on 350 degrees for 5 minutes or longer until they start to brown around the edges slightly. When done, plate them and scoop a tablespoon of the bruschetta mix onto each slice of bread. Serve immediately to prevent the bread from getting soggy.


4 responses to “Vegetable lasagna, bruschetta, & mixed green salad”

  1. The dinner was absolutely delicious, and my non-vegan boyfriend loved it!