A Recipe for Success

Okay, so I do all of the cooking at home. No sweat; it's something I love doing. It's easy when I cook for my girlfriend and I, in that we're both vegetarians, and we're both into the same types of food. Granted, I like mine so spicy that my eyes, nose and posterior run like Usain Bolt, but essentially, we find common ground at mealtime. But what to do when meat-eaters come over for dinner? For starters, your meat-eating friends should probably be of the tolerant variety, and not of the "I'm not eating that shit," variety. Once you've overcome that crucial, first hurdle, allow me to suggest my recipe for never-fail "lasagna." Your guests will be knife-fighting in your living room for leftovers before you know it! Let's get started... This meal will feed four hungry folks, and more-than-likely leave you a hearty helping of leftovers for lunch the next day! Here's what you'll need: 1) One package of some sort of meat substitute. I am a huge fan of ToFurkey's Italian Sausages, but in the absence of these meaty links, any crumbles -- Morningstar, Boca, Quorn, etc -- will do. Note: Crumbles are frozen, so you may want to brown them in a frying pan first. This will help remove any excess water from the frozen "meat." ToFurkey's sausages are fridge-kept, so they're ready to go as is. 2) Either homemade sauce, or one can/jar of your favorite pasta sauce. Trader Joe's has a kickass Tuscan Marinara in a can. It's chunky, tasty and oh-so-perfect for this dish. But again, any sauce you like... 3) 1 cup of cooked Quinoa (pronounced: keen-wah; see my post on quinoa here: http://vegviewpoint.blogspot.com/2009/08/quinoa-keen-wah-super-grain.html) 4) A whole onion, some shrooms, peppers, garlic or anything else you like in your lasagna. 5) A 1lb bag of shredded mozzarella. Meal Prep 411: 1) Pre-heat your oven to 350. 2) Cook the quinoa. 3) Chop your veggies into fork-sized bites. 4) Slice the ToFurkeys (all four from the package) into bite-sized rounds. Meal Construction 411: 1) Line a baking dish with the quinoa. You want a dish wide enough to allow a thin layer of quinoa to cover the bottom. Too much more than that, and your meal will become a challenge to chew! 2) Cover the quinoa with a layer of cheese. 3) Cover the cheese with all of your ToFurkey (or faux-ground meat, etc) 4) Use 1/2 of your sauce to cover the ToFurkey. 5) Layer your veggies on top of the sauce. 6) Cover the veggies with a hearty helping of cheese. 7) Drop spoonfuls of sauce on top of the cheese (this looks lovely when it bakes). 8) Bake at 350 until cheese congeals, and parts brown. 9) Eat it. 10) Love it. 11) Thank me. 12) Share the recipe!