Went to Prof. Wonderful's house last night and was served lasagna "surprise." As readers of this blog know, I was very concerned that the surprise involved some type of tofu product. He wouldn't tell me what the suprise was and I reminded him that I have a laminated "emergency alert" card in my wallet stating that I am not to ingest soybean products of any type.
Not that I'm allergic; I just don't like them. It was a great day when my doctor said soy-based products could cause hormonal problems in women and I wasn't to eat any more of them. Sadly, this came great day came one decade after another well-meaning doctor said soy would be the best thing in the world for me and I began experimenting with all things soy. Soy milk, soy cheese, soy ice cream, you name it, I tried it. If you haven't done this yourself, let me save you some trouble. It all tastes like a mashed soybean, no matter how pretty the carton or how much you pay.
Back to the lasagna. I have to admit, I was a little afraid because who knows what a vegan might consider a "surprise." Had he stripped some needles off the pine tree in the backyard for color? Or dug down past the snow to pull up some weeds for texture? I swallowed the first bite with some trepidation and it was . . . good. I tried a second bite to make sure. Yep, he had used real pasta, tasty sauce, and while there was no cheese, it was definitely creamy and delicious and . . .orange! Carrots? No. Squash? No. The secret ingredient was sweet potato!
The recipe was from The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your Life Plan. The cookbook was written by Rip Esselstyn, a firefighter in Texas who noticed he and his buddies were getting fat on their regular food. So, Esselstyn remade the traditional firefighter house recipes into tasty dishes that cut the fat and cholesterol. The premise of the book is, if a Texas firefighter will eat it, you know it's gotta be good.
Adding sweet potato is a stroke of genius! Prof. Wonderful has redeemed himself with this delicious recipe. Now, excuse me while I go get seconds on the lasagna.
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