Vegan Mushroom Lasagna in Velvety Bechamel Sauce (Learning to Knit Lace Again: A Black Shawl State of Mind)

This is one of the many nights I hadn't a clue as to what we'd be having for dinner--with about an hour to spare before Dr. Thyme came home, I was sort of in a pinch. I was in no mood to run to the store either. To be honest I was having one of my "shut-in" periods: times when being amongst the masses of other three o'clock grocery store scavangers sounded about as appealing as having my eyelashes removed one at a time by a trained monkey. No thanks. I had a limited amount of energy in my reserves and figured, whatever it was I made for dinner would most certainly have to last at least two nights. I was in a non-cooking frame of mind. It happens. I'm Almost Fifty. Hormonal. What can I say.

There are a couple of things I keep on hand because I think they nearly always lend themselves to the artful creation of last minute cooking. These things are: mushrooms, onions, garlic, sundried tomatoes, vegan cheese and lasagna sheets. Think of the possibilities. Well, I usually always have flour and yeast on hand as well. I could have gone with pizza (a sure fire Hooray from Dr. Thyme--he could live on pizza and vegan hot dogs alone). But again, it was a wee bit late in the day for me to be whipping up any dough--as easy as it is to do so, I just wasn't feeling it. So lasagna it was. And it proved worthy enough to land a spot in the "I can't for the life of me think of a thing I want to cook for dinner" rotation.

I'm happy as hell we're heading into fall. My knitting has picked up nicely. I have about four new knitting magazines sitting next to my bed. I read them like I read cookbooks. Absorbing creative ideas, but not really ready to dive head first into any single project until I see it pop up in Ravely.com with at least a minimum of a hundred projects attempted. I figure I am like most knitters: Let someone else make the mistakes and post about their trials and triumphs making my task that much easier when I settle on a project. I know. That is a horrible way to decide, but it works for me. I lurk. Then I knit. This is how I stumbled upon this lovely little shawl: The Holden Shawlette. I like anything abbreviated. I've seen (lurked) at many a shawl that looked like a gigantic doily landed on someone's back. That just isn't my taste. And truthfully, I don't know where or when I'd even attempt wearing a shawl that looked like a doily. We don't dine out. There aren't enough funerals and weddings to warrant it. We don't go to movie theatres. (Fear of germs thing. Long story.) So I'm mostly at home. Perhaps I'll wear this to the mailbox. Or sit with it around my shoulders by the fire in the winter. (Oh. My. God! Am I beginning to sound Almost Sixty?! Next thing I need to have pop out of my mouth is: "Me and my twelve cats!") So, maybe I'll just wrap this super cool shawlette around my neck and run to the store at three in the afternoon when it gets a bit more chilly. There. That's much better. 

I try not to be compulsive in my knitting projects. I have several UFOs--like every knitter in the world has. My only goal is to not, gawdforbid, "die" and leave my loved ones to hash out who or what it was I was intending to knit. I've made it clear to Dr. Thyme: My yarn. . . my "projects" should be taken straight down to my LYS asap. Don't even think about tossing them or you will be haunted. . . for life--me with big knitting needles floating through the house in a knit one, purl one frenzy. 

So I decided I'd give lace knitting another shot. I've done lace before. I made four placemats for the kitchen table several years ago--this was right after I'd learn the art of Yarn Over (YO). This was a milestone moment for me. As was the art of knitting in the round and top down knitting. (To date my two most favorite sought after designs.) I learned a long time ago, I greatly dislike having to seam anything. I had a few half finished sweaters as a result of this disdain. I ended up with a drawer full of one armed swearters which eventually had to be frogged and the yarn kept for another moment in time. So far, I love knitting this shawlette. I'm using Silky Wool yarn. I just love working with this yarn. Love. It. 

Yummy. Even better-er the next night.

Vegan Mushroom Lasagna in Velvety Bechamel Sauce

*Inspired by Ina Garten

For Lasagna Layers

1 package mushroom chopped

1/2 onion diced

8 garlic cloves minced

1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil minced

1/2 cup vegan mozzarella cheese

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 package lasagna noodles (no-boil kind)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sized saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic. Cook for 15 minutes or so--until the onions and mushrooms have just started to brown around the edges. Next, add the chopped spinach, sundried tomatoes and seasonings. (You can certainly add more basil or any other dried herb you'd like.)  Set aside to cool. 

For Bechamel Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted vegetable margerine

3 cups unsweetened almond milk

3-4 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Melt the margerine over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add the flour one tablespoon at a time, whisking well while doing so. The mixture will become paste-like, but should be smooth. Turn the heat up to medium and slowly add the milk to this in 1/2 cup increments, again, whisking the whole time--until all the milk has been added. The mixture should be very smooth, a bit thick. Next, add the nutmeg to this along with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Remove the mixture from heat and begin assembling your lasagna. First, spread a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of a glass 9 x 13 baking dish. Next, add a layer of lasagna sheets over this, then a layer of the veggie mixture and half the vegan mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers again. The final layer should be a drizzle of bechamel sauce topped with a bit of the vegan cheese. Bake uncovered in a 375 oven for about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about ten minutes before slicing. This makes for a wonderful leftover!