Happy Thanksgiving!

It's late in the apple season, but if you haven't already, go out and try a Kiku apple.  Whole Foods stores are selling them this year, and let me tell you, they're as good as (or better than?) Honeycrisp.  Cheaper, too!

Now, with Thanksgiving coming up, here's a healthy and delicious recipe from Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Diet.  

Sweet Potato Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 small head of garlic, all cloves chopped or pressed
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 head broccoli, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 can corn, rinsed and drained
• 1 package Silken Lite tofu
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 2 jars tomato sauce (low sodium and sugar)
• 2 boxes whole grain lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 6 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
• 1 cup raw cashews, ground

Cooking:

    1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

    2. Sauté the onion and garlic on high heat for 3 minutes in a nonstick pan.

    3. Add the mushrooms. 
4. Once the mushrooms have lost their liquid and onions are limp, put them in a large bowl.  (Keep the mushroom liquid in the pan.)
5. Sauté the broccoli and carrots for 5 minutes and add to the mushroom bowl.
6. Sauté the peppers and corn until just beginning to soften. Add them to the vegetable bowl.
7. Drain the tofu by wrapping in paper towels. Break it up directly in the towel and mix into the vegetable bowl.
8. Add spices to the vegetable bowl and combine.

To assemble your lasagna:
1. Cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole with a layer of sauce.
2. Add a layer of noodles.
3. Cover the noodles with sauce.
4. Spread the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles.
5. Cover with a layer of noodles and more sauce.
6. Add the spinach to the second layer of sauced noodles.
7. Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potatoes.
8. Add another layer of sauce, the final layer of noodles, and a last topping of sauce. Cover the lasagna with thinly sliced roma tomatoes.
9. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
10. Remove the foil, sprinkle with the cashews, and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Let lasagna sit for 15 minutes before serving.