Slow Cooker Pumpkin Tofu Ricotta, White Bean and Spinach Lasagna :)

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Tofu Ricotta, White Bean and Spinach Lasagna and Pecan Pesto

This is the second dish in my series of beta-carotene rich, orange, autumn veggies (butternut squash, pumpkin, and sweet potato).

One of the most unbelievably wonderful things about living in Southern Oregon is the abundance we have of wild mushrooms.  One of the other most unbelievably wonderful things about living here is how generous people are with their fruits of forest foraging.  Here are some fresh picked Chanterelles so kindly given to us by Mike's coworker Sophia that she gathered while mushroom hunting a few weekends ago.  

 This is what they look like in the wild. 

They are a ridiculously secretive source of significant Vitamin D, 28% of the RDA of this bone strengthening, mood-boosting Vitamin in one cup, and only 21 calories!

For Halloween I was considering dressing up like this dude, since I am constantly made fun of for being the "Vitamin D Nazi" at work, I prefer Vitamin D superhero.....um, yeah.

So, this meal, is a complete meal with all the essential, healthy versions of macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fat) and is chockablock of pretty much every other category of good-for-you deliciousness like Vitamin A, lycopene, lutein, folic-acid, B-12, calcium, dietary fiber.....  and it lasts (even in my household of only two humans, but one of those humans eats enough for three or four people....) for several days for leftover lunches and dinner. 

So, make a big ol' lasagna Sunday night and you're set until at least Tuesday at lunch.  Or if you have a family of 4 or more you should still have enough for leftovers for lunch on Monday!

This recipe is Gluten Free since I use GF lasagna noodles.  You can use regular lasagna noodles if you don't mind wheat.  Also, if you want to make it Vegan, all you have to do is 3 cups of Tofu instead of 2 cups of Tofu and one cup of Ricotta and use vegan-parmesan to sprinkle on top at the end.

Ingredients:

For the Pumpkin-Tofu-Ricotta

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

6 Sun Dried Tomatoes (packed in oil, not dried/dehydrated)

2 cups (about 16 oz) of tofu (doesn't matter if its silken, soft or firm)

1 cups of low-fat Ricotta 

1 can (15 oz) of cooked, pureed pumpkin or 1 1/2 cups of cooked, pureed fresh (or butternut squash!)

1/4 cup of Nutritional Yeast

2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning (if you have some fresh herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, or rosemary chop some of it up and throw those in, too!)

1 tsp onion powder

4 cloves garlic

Dash or two of Red Pepper Flakes (crushed red pepper flakes)

salt and pepper to taste

For the lasagna:

2 (24 oz) jars of homemade or store-bought marinara

One package of brown rice or whole-wheat lasagna noodles (regular, NOT no-boil kind)

26 oz can of Cannellini (White Kidney) beans, rinsed and drained or 2 cups of homecooked, dried white beans

approx 8 ounces of fresh mushrooms of your choice (Chanterelles worked beautifully here, but Cremini and White Button would work well, too), chopped

one bunch of Spinach, Chard, or Kale rinsed and chopped

toasted pine nuts or sliced almonds

Topping:

Homemade pesto (recipe below)

Directions:

1. In a food processor, blend the olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes until the consistency of paste. Add the rest of the pumpkin-tofu-ricotta ingredients and blend until creamy. 

You can store this mixture in a tupperware dish in the fridge overnight to save prep time for the next day.

2. Spray the slow-cooker insert with olive or canola oil.

3. Spread a thin layer, about 1/2 cup, of marinara over the bottom of the slow cooker.  

4. Place a single layer of noodles over the sauce (you may have to break off the square corners to make them fit well in a round or oval crock-pot).

5. Spread one-third of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. 

6. Spread another layer of marinara over the ricotta

7. Scatter one-third of the white beans, one-half of the mushrooms, and one-half of the greens on top.

8. Repeat the layers two more times, except for the last layer you will only have beans (you used all the mushrooms and greens in the first two layers), ending with a last layer of noodles topped with the last of the marinara.

9. If desired, sprinkle a light-layer of grated parmesan on top.

10.  Cook on low in the slow cooker for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours.  If you can't be back in 4 hours, add 1/2 cup of marinara sauce or water to the container and leave it on for one more hour. Sprinkly toasted pine-nuts or sliced almonds before serving.

Alternatively: this casserole can be assembled in regular 9x14 pyrex dish, covered in foil, and cooked in a 325 degree F pre-heated oven for 60-75 minutes until the top is bubbly and golden but not burnt.

Served here with a mixed green and roasted beet salad with pine nuts and dijon white-wine vinaigrette

 If you would like to make this dish even more divine, and green, top the final cooked dish with a dollop of homemade pecan-pesto:

Ingredients:
1 large bunch of rinsed, torn basil (about 2 cups, packed)
4-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup toasted pecans
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of shredded parmesan reggiano
squeeze of lemon juice
1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
few grinds of sea salt

Directions:
put all ingredients in food processor, process until desired consistency on the spectrum from chunky to smooth and creamy!

A girl who loves to cook can never have too many of these! (wait, does she mean headlamps or aprons.....? in the winter, both!)

One of my favorite running trails here above Lithia Park

 

Apple Skillet Breakfast Cake and Zingy De-Tox Apple Kale Berry Smoothie

Malus Domesticus?.......

 

How bout them apples?.....

Dangerously Delicious and Diverse and, Divine? :)

Last week, my good friend Livvy showed up at my house in the middle of the week with a huge bag full of apples.  Muchos, muchos manzanas...from her neighbor's tree.  Just like I cannot go to sleep at night without brushing my teeth, I absolutely cannot let a gallon of these classic fresh, crisp Autumn fruits, grown down the street, go to waste.  I have to, almost like its an emergency, before they go rotten, turn them into something tasty and fulfilling and healthy.  So my friends, this week's theme: the ancient, famous, diverse, origin of evil and the original preventative medicine, our friend, Malus domestica.  Malus means evil, so, in keeping in line with our Halloween foodie theme, I thought this was a perfect, frightfully delicious centerpiece for dishes to serve up this cooky and spooky last week of my favorite month of the year.  

Of course, they are the perfect snack.  Why?

They have both a low glycemic index (GI) and low glycemic (load), which makes them perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth without sending your blood sugar skyrocketing.  If I eat an apple at 4:00ish at work, I will have much more energy to finish the day strong and still go for a run and cook dinner and clean up and work on my blog....if I have an apple instead of a candy bar for my late-afternoon snack!

However, I must admit, they are SO MUCH MORE FUN to use in delectible dishes rather than just eating alone.

My very cool cousins from Portland were visiting Ashland this weekend.  We had a grand time doing the Southern Oregon thang, hiking, running, drinking good beer, walking in Lithia Park, seeing a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.   They brought us doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnut, um, wow. 

Mike and I just stood there staring at the magical contents of this pink box for about 5 minutes.  Portland.  Is. Awesome.   

 So, I felt indebted to take my cousins to a funky, super tasty place for brunch since one, brunch is such a cool Portlandia thing to do, and two, I wanted to show them that we, too, have funky, super tasty places to eat lots of sugar and dough and coffee on a lazy Sunday.  Well, we may have slept in a little too late Sunday morning to even stand a chance at getting a table anywhere for brunch before getting to our play at 1:30, so, I looked at my bag of apples, scratched my head, and thought, there are SO many things I can do with these green and red jewels of fall, think think think.....

This is what I came up with for brunch at Bodega Stadnisky.  I also made Kale Blueberry Apple Ginger Lemon Coconut Milk smoothie to accompany and give us a little zesty pick-me-up for the fun day ahead.  The recipe is really complicated:

Ingredients:                                                                                      
4 leafs of Dinosaur Kale, rinsed
one bag of frozen organic blueberries
one big apple, cored (do not peel!)
1 " piece of peeled fresh ginger
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup of light coconut milk
a few ice cubes

Directions: 
put all ingredients in powerful blender or Vitamix
blend until smooth.
Imbibe the cool, zesty, green, refreshing antioxidants and phytochemicals until your heart's and immune system's content!

Then, I made something which my manager at Starbucks back in the day (my first job!) would have called "quality calories" being facetious in every way possible:)  When a customer, usually ordering a skim latte with sugar free vanilla, would look longingly at the pastry case, internal diet devil and angel voices battling it out,  my manager would quietly but firmly whisper, "quality calories, my friend, those scones and muffins are good for your soul, go ahead, you know you deserve one....".

So, my Apple Skillet Breakfast cake does have some sugar in it.  BUT, I used the minimal amount of sugar I felt possible to still make it sweet enough to satisfy but also used healthy ingredients like hazelnut flour and coconut oil to offset some of the "quality calories" of the sugar.  And, it has a lot of apples, so they are healthy!   Why? Apples have, ahem:

Vitamin C                                                     

My dad is a pediatrician.  When I was a little girl, I was terrified once when my mom brought home a bushel of apples.  I thought she wanted to keep my doctor daddy out of the house....

B Complex Vitamins

Polyphenolic Compounds

Dietary Fiber

Calcium, Potassium, and Phosphorous

So, my friends, I give you Apple Skillet Breakfast Cake

This recipe is Gluten Free.  Can be made Vegan by substituting 1 cup of egg replacer for the 4 eggs.

Ingredients:

Batter:

1/4 cup of Hazelnut or Almond Meal Flour

1/4 cup of Quinoa or Oat Flour

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tablespoon of granulated sugar

1/8 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup of almond milk or skim milk

2 tablespoons of coconut oil, melted

1 tsp real vanilla extract

Apple Mixture:

coconut oil enough to coat skillet

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

1 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp of ground ginger

2 cups of thinly sliced apples (any firm, tart apples will do, avoid soft mealy ones like Macintosh)

topping:

confectioner's sugar or maple syrup

Directions: 

1.  Combine flours, baking powder, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, salt, and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg in a bowl, stirring with a fork or whisk to mix well.

2. Combine eggs, milk, coconut oil, and vanilla in a bowl or bowl of Kitchen Aid mixer, whisk to mix well.

3.  Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stir well or whisk with paddle attachment of Kitchen Aid.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  

5. Coat bottom AND sides of heavy bottomed OVENPROOF skillet (I use my 10" cast iron Dutch Oven) with coconut oil or cooking spray.

6. Combine 1/8 cup of granulated sugar, cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp of nutmeg; scatter evenly over bottom and sides of pan

7. Arrange apples in an even, whirl-like pattern in two layers in pan.

8. Sprinkle apple with remaining 1/8 cup of sugar.

9. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until it bubbles.

10. Slooooowly, evenly, pour batter over apple mixture.

11. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake an additional 15-18 minutes UNTIL the CENTER is SET (not jiggly, nice and firm but not brown and burnt!). 

12. Remove from oven, place on heat proof surface or cooling rack, and carefully loosen pancake with a wide, flexible spatula.  Gently slide the cake onto a serving plate.  Sprinkle confectioners sugar or maple syrup over top.  

Cut into desired sized pie pieces and serve right away.  Goes well with piping hot coffee on a crisp, late October morning before setting out on a jog in the woods!

Pilot Rock, one of our local favorite hikes off the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)

Overlooking Northern California from the PCT.

A view off the end of a little spur trail overlooking the Mount Ashland Watershed from a run my cousin Katie and I did that Sunday after eating the Apple Pancakes and drinking lots of coffee!