Heya fellow foodies. How are you all today? Ready for another kitchen hack? After sharing my tips and tricks to make a week's supply of green smoothies in about 20 minutes or less, I thought to give you another insight in my kitchen for #veganwednesday initiated by gorgeous @heart-to-heart.

If you have been following my blog you know I am passionate about food. These days, however, I have less free time to spend in my kitchen to experiment. Well, actually I am experimenting.... not with fancy vegan dishes but with methods to make cooking less time-consuming.

KITCHEN HACK

Vegan food doesn't have to be complicated or taking up all the precious evening time you rather spend with your loved ones. Hence today's post. On my free day, I spent 20 min prepping my smoothies for a whole week, but I also made some delicious marinara sauce. Or shall I call it tomato veggie sauce as I added some other ingredients apart from tomatoes too?

I made one big pot, which will be the base of 4 completely different dishes I am planning to make during the rest of the week. The first one was this overly delicious vegan moussaka-style veggie bake. Other recipes on this weeks menu are pizza with chickpea flour crust, spiralized sweet potato with tomato sauce and "meatballs," and a cauliflower roast.

Stay tuned for these easy yummies made with the same tomato sauce!

TOMATO VEGGIE SAUCE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

2.5-3 kg (5-6 pound) tomatoes
8 cloves of garlic, minced
1-1.5 cup celery, chopped
1-1.5 cup carrot, chopped
Dried oregano and rosemary to taste
2 bay leaves
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 tbsp maple syrup
Freshly chopped parsley, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Optional (to remove tomato skins): Blanche the whole tomatoes in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Cool under cold running water. Peel the tomatoes.
Heat cooking oil over medium heat. Saute onion for a few minutes before adding the garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes more. Stir regularly.
Then add carrots and celery and cook for a few minutes more.
Add the peeled tomatoes, dried herbs, pepper, and salt. Cook for
Add freshly chopped parsley and maple syrup to taste.
Blend half of the mixture and mix into the remaining tomato sauce. Or mix everything for a smooth marinara-style tomato sauce. I like little chunks in mine so I blended only half.

VEGAN MOUSSAKA-STYLE VEGGIE BAKE WITH AVOCADO CASHEW CHEESE 🥑🍅🧀

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 3-4)

For the pumpkin and eggplant layer

3 eggplants, sliced
1/2 small pumpkin, sliced
Black pepper to taste
Optional: toasted pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds

For the avocado cheese

1 cup raw cashews, soaked
1/2 big avocado
1 small lime, juice only
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 - 3/4 cup water
Black pepper and sea salt to taste

For the tomato sauce

2.5-3 cup of the homemade marinara-style sauce (see recipe above)

DIRECTIONS

For the tomato sauce

Instructions see recipe above.

For the eggplant pumpkin layer

Preheat oven to 200C or 400F.
Coat pumpkin and eggplant slices with cooking oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Then arrange the pumpkin slices in a single layer on the wire rack and the eggplant slices on a baking sheet. Roast until soft and nicely browned. Turn the slices halfway through to roast evenly on both sides.

For the avocado cheese

Soak cashew nuts for a few hours, overnight is best. If you forgot to soak the cashews, soak them in boiling water for 1 hour.
Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender and process until cheesy, creamy texture. Set aside.