Vegetable Variety for your Brain

Creativity with Fall Veggies add fun, flavor and nutrients

The beautiful purple skins of eggplants have lots of nutrients including brain defending antioxidant Nasunin - only found in eggplant!

The pulp of the 'spaghetti squash' comes out in the shape of noodles!

Eggplant Lasagna

Here's my modification Rip Esseltyn's "Over the Rooftop Lasagna" Plantstrong.com ,

Sliced eggplant makes delicious flat noodles, and layers of sauce, creamed veggies, sweet potatoes and greens create the lasagna.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion diced

• 3 cloves of garlic minced

• 8 ounces of mushrooms sliced

• 1 -2 cups chopped broccoli

• 2 carrots chopped

• 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped

• 1 package silken tofu - drained

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 teaspoon of oregano, or a sprig of fresh

• Fresh basil leaves, chopped

• 1 large eggplant

• Jar of low sodium tomato sauce

• 2 sweet potatoes cooked and mashed

• Spinach chopped in small pieces to make 2 cups

• 4 Roma tomatoes sliced thinly

• 1 cup raw cashews, ground

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400*

• Saute the onion in a hot pan stirring frequently as it gives off it's juices. Read about cooking without oil.

• Add the mushrooms; after they've softened, place the onions and mushrooms in a bowl, leaving the juices behind on the pan.

• Add the carrots, and peppers to the pan add some veggie stock if needed.

• Add the broccoli

• When all the veggies are softened, add them to the onions & mushroooms, and blend in the tofu

• Then mix in the spices

• Thinly slice the egg plant to create 'noodles'

To Assemble:

• Cover the bottom of a 9-by-13 inch casserole dish with a layer of sauce.

• Add a layer of the eggplant noodles and add another layer of sauce

• Spread the vegetable mixture over the sauced noodles

• Cover with another layer of noodles and a layer of sauce

• Add a layer with the spinach

• Cover the spinach with the mashed sweet potatoes

• Add another layer of sauce, a final layer of noodles and a last topping of sauce

• Cover the lasagna with the thinly sliced roma tomatoes.

• Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes

• Remove the foil and sprinkle with the cashews, and return to the oven for 15 minutes

• Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Deliciously Nutritious Eggplant Lasagna

Spaghetti Squash

Slice the Spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the seeds and cook face down in oven. at 375* 30-45 minutes until skin is easily pierced by fork. Note: To make cutting easier, soften the skin first by puncturing the squash, and place in microwave for 3-5 minutes.

As you scrape the pulp out with a fork or spoon it will create "spaghetti" strings!!

Top your 'noodles' with your favorite spaghetti sauce and marinated tofu

Or top with nutritional yeast, fresh spinach and tomatoe sauce - heat in microwave

Cook extra! All of these dishes save well in the fridge for delicious leftovers.

Hooray for Tomato Sauce ... so versatile and nutritious: Tomatoes are rich in vitamins C, K, folate, and beta-carotene, along with antioxidants and flavonoids such as lycopene, naringenin and others which working all together have anti-cancer, cardioprotective, anti neurodegenerative, and anti-inflammatory benefits as well as fiber for a healthy microbiome.