Eggplant "Lasagna" Bake

A while back my fiance and I (yes, we are engaged now - woot woot!) tried the vegan lasagna recipe from How It All Vegan. It includes a homemade tomato sauce recipe and "ricotta" mixture made from tofu. It was delicious, but we found that it was really heavy compared to what we've been eating more recently. So  he came up with a novel idea - substitute the lasagna noodles with eggplant.

Last night he made a giant pot of tomato sauce that is so yummy I could eat a bowl of it on its own. Seriously. Amazing. Then tonight after work he whipped up the "ricotta" mixture and layered the mixture with sauce, eggplant sliced thin, and Daiya cheese. Then he popped it in the oven...and we waited. Oh man, it was worth the wait. In retrospect, I think he should have skinned the eggplant for the sheer reason that it's difficult to cut through it, but at the same time, I like that the entire eggplant was used and the skin has lots of nutrients in it. The dish was hearty without being heavy, warm, comforting, and incredibly flavorful. This dish will certainly remain in our culinary arsenal.

And might I just say, I'm really lucky to have a man who is not only willing to get in the kitchen and cook dinner, but who actually enjoys it. We have so much fun in the kitchen and cook together every night even if one of us takes the lead. Our meals are satisfying because we're becoming really great cooks and because we have fun preparing them together.

Later tonight I'm going to make some chia pudding...yes, chia, like Chia Pet. We were in Whole Foods and stopped by a taste test station to try out some chia pudding. The pudding is very similar to tapioca - without the dairy. Fantastico! So we picked up a bag of seeds after learning that these little guys are high in fiber, antioxidants, and omega 3's (something we struggle with getting a healthy intake of since it's mainly in fish products), and we learned that you can use them in shakes or oatmeal, make pudding, or grind them up and use them in baking! The pudding was made by soaking 2 Tbsp of the chia seeds in 1/2 cup of almond milk, and then mixing in either honey or agave or jam or fresh fruit. I'm going to try it with a little honey and some berry preserves. I'm excited to try experimenting with them more though - will let you know the results :)