Cactuar Lasagna with Sweet Potatoes

As a “healthy” food creator, I’ve long noticed that there is a peculiar trend going on about being “vegan”. This Lasagna I made is vegan, but the vegan part is not really important for me. Nowadays being vegan is often perceived as a status rather than a choice, and I’m failing miserably catching up with this “trend”. I’ve met so many vegan food bloggers and Instagrammers in my life, but many of them were cracking eggs for pancakes, spreading butter on bread, and even adding anchovies on the side of their “healthy” meals behind of social media. I used to think of them as if they are my future friends; -I thought I had the same idea of “healthy” with them before. But as it turned out, I had nothing in common with them.

I think every creator must go through the phase of stagnation, and mine hit me like a ton of bricks. I wanted to keep creating “healthy” food, but there was a time where I couldn’t think of any meanings in my work, and I’m still skeptical. One thing that is clear for me now is that the word vegan is no longer in my mind anymore when I cook. Choosing the right food, diet, lifestyle… those things are important, but they are just condiments. The main ingredients should be honesty and integrity,  and everything else starts from there.

This lasagna I’m posting today is vegan, but it has a Cactuar on top of it; a rare-to-find character from a video game called Final Fantasy, and I used to spend all my days and nights looking for them in front of the TV. Perhaps I chased too many Cactuars growing up; I didn’t even socialize with other kids after school. But at the time I was addicted to Final Fantasy; -so addicted to the sense of adventure when I achieve each goals, and I wanted to level myself up so badly. To me, my search for meanings in my everyday life often feels like those days when I was playing Final Fantasy; -I’m looking for a rare-to-find something in my own fantasy, final or not.

I don’t know if choosing vegan is going to “save the world”, or even give us the modicum of “better future”. I don’t know if this is the right diet for me, either. But I just watched a food documentary called “Engine 2 Diet”; -their idea of using sweet potatoes from this recipe inspired me like a light bulb, and I wanted to make it on my own, with a Cuctor on it.

 

I hope you like this recipe.

 1: Let the cashew nuts soak for overnight. 
Make the vegan cheese first. Soak the nuts overnight, then simply add all ingredients into your blender until it comes out thick and creamy. It will feel and look like cream cheese.The vegan cheese will turn solid once it’s been chilled. You can also keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days.

2: Chop the Veggies.
Time to start preparing the lasagna. Grab mushrooms, onions, carrot, and garlic and chop them into small pieces. Also, start pre-heating your oven to 400F/200C.3: Sauté the veggies.
Put all the veggies in a non-stick pan and sauté for 5 minutes until the veggies turn soft. Sprinkle thyme and basil to give it flavor.
4: Boil the noodles.
This is probably not how you properly boil the lasagna noodles, but I’m Japanese; -origami was on my mind.  Boil them for 5~10 minutes and drain the water and then immediately rinse them with cold water.
5: Boil the potatoes.
Cut the sweet potatoes into small pieces and boil until the potatoes turn soft and yellow. Usually it takes 10~15 minutes with mid to low heat.
6: Mash it.
Add one or two pinches of salt and mash them until they are soft.
7: Make the tomato sauce.
Add all the ingredients: tomato puree, herbs, garlic, and lemon, and mix it well.
8: Prepare the pan.
Spread the tomato sauce so it covers the bottom of your lasagna pan. This will help to prevent the pasta from sticking.9: Layer them all.
Time to start making the layers of your Vegan Lasagna. This is the most fun part for me.

10: Make Cactor.
Time for crafting. First, cut the zucchini into a Cactuar-like shape and make sure you even out the corners to make them look nice and round. Then cut the little pieces for his limbs. I used a smaller knife to do this.Use a piece of spaghetti for his cute signature 3 horns. Cut out pieces of dried seaweed and use it for his mouth and eyes.Done.

11: Time to bake.
Your oven should be warm by now with 400F/200C. Cover the pan with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Also, make some holes on the foil so it can breathe. 12: Remove the foil and bake again.
Remove the foil and bake it for another 5-8 minutes. Then take it out of the oven and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.

13: All done.
The super cute and toasty Cactuar Lasagna is now ready for your hungry tummy. His little 3 horns are my favorite of all. The baked vegan cheese slightly resembles a desert. Since original Cactuars from Final Fantasy come from deserts, it was a perfect coincidence.Once you cut into the lasagna you can see all the glorious veggies inside. The mashed sweet potatoes and tomato sauce go well really well together. You can keep it in the fridge for at least 3 days. This recipe looks complex, but it really isn’t. I hope you try it with or without Cactuar!

Thanks for reading.
-Yuki