Vegetarian Bread Lasagna & Kale - Fig Salad

Blogging Marathon# 27: Week 1/ Day 2
Theme: Occasions - Casual Lunch with Friends @ Home
Dish(es) - Bread Lasagna with Kale & Fig Salad

Today's occasion is a casual lunch with friends at home. We had a couple of friends over for lunch recently and I made this simple Bread Lasagna along with Kale & Fig Salad. Lasagna with bread is such a great idea and when I found this recipe from Vegan Yumyum, I wanted to try it right away.

Traditional lasagna with the wide noodles is time consuming and a little tricky to make. I have torn the cooked lasagna noodles in the past, so using rustic bread is such a brilliant idea. I used a wholegrain French bread and layered it with roasted eggplant, store bought tomato sauce and grated cheese. Veggie layer is actually very versatile and any sauteed or roasted veggies would taste great in this dish. Using store bought tomato sauce cuts down on the prep time, but homemade would taste awesome too.

To go along with the lasagna, I made a simple salad with Kale & Figs. This is a very refreshing and delicious salad with sweet balsamic vinaigrette. Both the dishes was quick and easy to make and are very filling. All of us enjoyed them thoroughly.

Vegetarian Bread Lasagna:
Ingredients: (Makes 4 servings)
French Bread - 10 slices (or any other rustic style bread, I used wholewheat French Bread)
Tomato Sauce - 2-3 cups (homemade or store bought)
Eggplant - 2 medium, sliced into ¼" thick slices
Grated Cheese - 1cup (I used sharp cheddar and muenster cheese)
Dry bread crumbs - ¼cup
Tomatoes - 2 medium, sliced into thin rounds
Salt and Pepper - to taste

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Add olive oil, salt and pepper to the eggplant slices; arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes or until the pieces are cooked through and tender. Make sure to turn the eggplant slices once during baking.
• In a oven safe baking dish, spread 3tbsp of tomato sauce, top it with a layer of bread making sure to cover the dish as much as possible. Then add a layer of eggplant pieces, followed by a layer of tomato sauce and half of the grated cheese.
• Repeat with the remaining bread slices/ eggplant pieces/ tomato sauce. 
• For the last layer add the breadcrumbs and remaining grated cheese. Finally arrange the sliced tomatoes on the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the top is golden. Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Kale & Fig Salad:

I saw the Jazzy Vegetarian make this dish on her tv show and wanted to make it ever since. So when I saw Lacinato Kale or Dinosaur Kale in my local grocery store, I bought right away to make this salad. The highlight of this dish is the slightly bitter kale dressed with sweet dressing and the chewy dried figs. This salad has enough stage presence to be served to company.

Ingredients:

Kale - 2-4 cups, finely chopped

Mixed Greens - 4 cups

Tomato - 1 medium, seeded and diced Figs - 4, sliced thin

For the Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette:

Balsamic Vinegar - 2tbsp

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 3tbsp

Brown Sugar - 2tbsp

Dijon Mustard - 1tsp

Salt and Pepper - to taste

Method:

• Make the Dressing: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Whisk well to combine.
• For the Salad: Add 1-2tbsp of dressing to the chopped kale and massage with hands to rub the dressing into the greens. Set aside until ready to use.
• Place the salad greens, chopped tomato and figs in a large bowl. Just before serving add the kale and additional dressing to the salad and serve.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 27.