Angelina's Easy Lasagne (Raw)

This recipe makes plenty! It filled a 9 X 13. Next time, I'd halve it.

I have so many cookbooks that I hardly know what to do with them all. Some of them are quite useful, some of them not so much. But I'm still searching and finding more cookbooks that fit my diet better, recipes filled with veggies and spices to tantalize my tastebuds.

Recently I came across the book, Alive in 5 by Angela Elliott. It seemed like a good fit because I like to incorporate A LOT of raw foods into our diet for their nutritional benefits. Gone are the days of thinking that having a few carrot sticks will fulfill your raw foods quota for the day. Alive in 5 is filled with some pretty straightforward recipes with easy-to-find ingredients. I'm looking forward to trying a bunch more recipes.

Tonight I put together the lasagne. It was different but delicious. Fair warning - you must start earlier in the day to soak the sunflower seeds and marinate the artichoke hearts (or cucumber slices, in my case). Also, this makes a large quantity. For my size family, I should have made half as much, but we'll share some with relatives and eat lots of leftovers, although I don't think they'll keep very long. So here goes:

Angelina's Easy Lasagne
Serves 8

Note: Start soaking the sunflower seeds 3 hours before you prepare this dish. This is what you'll do:

Place 3 12 C raw sunflower seeds in a medium sized bowl. Cover with water and allow to soak for 3 hours. Drain.

And, 1 hour before preparing the lasagne, start marinating the artichoke hearts (or cucumber slices).

Begin thawing frozen artichoke hearts.

To make lasagne, first prepare the marinade, then Presto Pesto and then the Olive Medley
Marinated Artichokes

1/2 c. olive oil
3 -4 T. fresh lemon juice
1 t. salt
1/2 t. Italian seasoning
1/2 t. fresh ground black pepper
1/8 t. cayenne
2 packages (12 oz. each) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

Combine all ingredients except artichokes and blend. Add artichokes, stir gently, and set aside to marinade one hour.
Presto Pesto

1 C. fresh basil leaves
1/3 C. olive oil
3 - 4 T. fresh lemon juice
1 t. Real salt
3 1/2 C. soaked raw sunflower seeds (drained)
1/8 t. fresh ground pepper
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
(I added 2 cloves minced garlic)
Place basil, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor with the S blade. Pulse to chop. Add sunflower seeds, garlic, black pepper, and cayenne powder, and pulse again until evenly combined.
Olive Medley

1 1/2 C. pitted olives
1 red bell pepper, diced

Place the olive and bell pepper in a food processor. Pulse until evenly chopped.
Lasagne ingredients

Presto Pesto
Marinated artichokes
4 large ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 C. minced fresh basil
Olive Medley
2 T. nutritional yeast

Line bottom of a 9 X 13 dish with the Presto Pesto. Use cucumber slices or tear apart each marinated artichoke heart to make "noodles"  and place over pesto. Layer the tomato slices over "noodles", completely covering them. Scatter the minced basil over tomatoes. Evenly distribute the Olive Medley mix over the basil. Sprinkle with the nutritional yeast powder and additional salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately. Enjoy!

You can sort of see the layering.