Vegetable Lasagna

I happened upon this recipe on Pinterest recently and it sounded so good I decided to throw it into the running for our 2013 Christmas dinner. I've made a few different vegan lasagnas before and though they've all turned out okay, I wasn't thrilled with any of them. SO instead of jumping right in on Christmas day I thought this time I would test it out in advance in case it was underwhelming... and I'm so glad I did! But not because it turned out badly, just the opposite in fact! It was SO tasty I can't wait to make it again! I was surprised to find it tasted very similar to it's non-vegan counterpart! I made just a few changes to the original, here's the recipe as I made it.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 8 ounces Mushrooms, sliced
• 4-5 cups veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
• homemade pasta sauce (I left out the spices called for in the original recipe because my sauce already had them in it)
• 1 pound Lasagna Noodles, cooked
• 3 Large Sweet Potatoes, baked and mashed
• about 1/2 cup Daiya shredded non dairy mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Start by baking your sweet potatoes. Scoop out and mash with a fork. You can do this ahead of time or use left overs (which is what I did). 
2. Steam broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, then saute mushrooms and garlic in olive oil. In a bowl combine all of the cooked veggies.
3. Cover the bottom of your pan with your pasta sauce.
4. Add a layer of noodles and sweet potato.
5. Next add half of the vegetable mixture, sauce and cheese.
6. Add another layer of noodles and sweet potato, followed by the rest of the vegetables, more sauce and more cheese.
7. Finish it off with a final layer of noodles, topped with sauce and cheese.
8. Cover and Bake for about an hour in a preheated oven to 400 degrees. The last 15 minutes of baking time take the foil off. Let it rest about 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

It was delicious! Though my youngest son wasn't a big fan, my 16 year old ate three big pieces and I liked it so much I was thrilled to have leftovers for lunch the next day! :) The only thing I found it was lacking was a pinch of salt (because I don't add salt to my homemade spaghetti sauce) but sprinkling a tiny bit on my own individual pieces fixed that issue. I look forward to not only making this again on Christmas day, but adding it to our regular meal rotation for sure!