Mini Lasagna Cups

I feel like I am always on a quest to find the perfect appetizer to bring to a party.

I like to bring things that are easy to make, pretty/cute, delicious, and make believers out of non-vegans. Can you get all of those things in one hors douvres hor douvres whore devre  horedevres whores devils appetizer?

When you are the token vegan bringing anything to a party, it better damn well be delicious because you have about 5 seconds to make a believer out of any skeptic. Of course this always makes me laugh, since clearly vegans eat only things made of dirt and broccoli.

I recently saw a recipe for non-vegan mini lasagna cups and I thought they looked like a perfect party treat. I made them and they pretty much fit all of my qualifications. I brought them to husbands’ softball game and a fellow chubby (non-vegan) woman damn near fainted from how good they were.

When I told them they were vegan she pretty much did a spit take.

*pulling at suspenders*

My work here is done…

Recipe after the jump…

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Sweet Potato Lasagna

“Normalizing” vegan food is one of my favorite things.

I always say how often people get scared of what vegan food is. I had someone ask me once, “Did you try the food before you decided to go vegan?”

Why, yes. I have eaten a vegetable before.

Normalizing vegan food to me is about making things that don’t sound odd or scary to non vegans. I guess people get freaked out by words like seitan and tempeh. If you say tofu; it usually equals an instant nose scrunch.  That would never stop me from making it; I might just conveniently avoid saying it… (CV Disclaimer: Please tell me if you have a soy allergy. I don’t want you kicking it at my next chubby party)

This recipe is from one of the kings of normalizing vegan foods, VILF Rip Esselstyn. Rip is the author of the Engine 2 Diet, which is an excellent book detailing how a vegan diet dramatically improved the health of a group of firefighters in Austin, TX. The stories in his book are great and the recipes are all really simple and sound delicious! The book is a great gift for someone who is thinking of “easing" into a vegan diet.

If health reasons turn the switch to a plant based diet for someone, I will take it!

This lasagna is big and unbelievably hearty. There are just so many vegetables in it; I don’t even know what to do with myself. Make this… Now!

Recipe after the jump…

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Red Lentil Lasagna

When I first started cooking I was so scared to veer from a recipe. To me, a recipe is like the instructions on Ikea furniture, leave something out and it just won’t work right.

What I have slowly come to realize is that although there are some recipes that need to be followed pretty closely, there are others that can be adjusted a bit.

I had some extra red lentils in my cabinet that I wanted to use so I went to my trustiest cookbook, Google, and started looking for something to do with them. Red lentil lasagna, sure!

The Top Layer

Only problem is I didn’t have everything the original recipe called for so I decided to take some liberties with it. Take this out, add this, adjust this… It worked! Success! I am the next vegan Julia Child! Respect...

Well not yet, but this lasagna turned out pretty darn good. 

I ate it like Garfield.You should too…

My slightly adapted Red Lentil Lasagna, after the jump…

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