Friday night eats - Eggplant Lasagna

There are two things that I love about Friday night cooking - creating a delicious meal to fuel the weekend workouts and having delicious leftovers. 

Last Friday I made this delicious eggplant lasagna. No recipe, just a bunch of delicious foods in the refrigerator for me to use. 

Plus, Karel and I had just shopped at the Tomato Vine early that day, so we had lot of local, fresh produce to use. 

With two endurance triathletes in our household, a lot of food needs to be in our house to keep us well fueled and happy. We shop a lot, we cook a lot, a lot of dishes get washed, we eat a lot and we yum a lot. 

The weekends are often hard for endurance athletes when it comes to meal prep and planning. Endurance athletes have every reason to feel too exhausted to prep and cook food but that is no excuse not to do it. If you want your body to perform and stay in good health, you have to nourish it on a daily basis - especially on the weekends when you expect your body to workout for long hours.
Eating should not be an afterthought when your 5 hour bike workout or 2 hour run is over as that is the time when it's easy to give into post workout "reward" foods and cravings, particularly when you are too tired or hungry to cook. If the right foods for your body and workout load are available and ready in your house, then you will be fueling in the right way for your body on the weekend. 

My eggplant lasagna was perfect on Friday evening..... and on Sat afternoon after training. Karel enjoyed his vegetarian lasagna on Friday night and then added some meat to his Saturday post-workout portion. 

When making your own lasagna, be creative. There are no rules or guidelines when it comes to how you dress-up (or fill-in) your casserole dish. 

Here are the ingredients in my eggplant lasagna (by layer):
Marinara sauce
Thinly sliced eggplant
Arugula
Chickpeas
Crumbled tempeh (~half package)
Thinly sliced eggplant
Marinara sauce
Sliced onions
Mushrooms
Garlic (powder or fresh)
Thinly sliced eggplant (whatever is left)
Marinara
Crumbled tempeh (the rest of the package)
Shredded cheese

Bake at 425 degrees for ~45 minutes

What are you making for dinner tonight? 

Eggplant and tofu lasagna

My body has not disappointed me in a long time and that is a great thing because I live a super busy and active lifestyle and I need my body ever single minute of every single day.

I have always told my body that we make a great team because if I don't take care of it, it will not take care of me. 

Just like so many of you all, I have a lot to balance in life. My priorities rarely change for triathlons are my lifestyle, not my life. Triathlons do not pay the bills but I do feel that because of triathlons I have become much more mentally and physically stronger in life and thus I am a better person because of what I have learned from calling myself a triathlete.

Thankfully, my body has performed beautifully over the past two months since I started my 2014 tri season and I am just so excited to use my trained body when it is time for our race-cations this year. 

With our 2014 Trimarni Triathlon Endurance Training Camp taking place in Clermont FL on Feb 28-March 2nd, we have had a lot on our plate lately, alongside Karel staying super busy with RETUL bike fits, our coaching business and me helping athletes and fitness enthusiasts reach personal fitness/performance/health goals.

With a busy life, I must keep myself in optimal health all the time. Sleep, stress management and daily movement are critical to functioning well in life but my passion for a real food diet never gets pushed to the side because I am too busy to cook.
Additionally, because I choose to train my body for performance, it is even more vital that I nourish my body so that I can live with a healthy immune system. 

Oh how I love my oven and stove top!
The oven is perfect for busy days. The key, however, is to make sure you don't find yourself too busy that you forget to start your meal so that it has time to cook. 

This meal is perfect to prep in the morning, afternoon or evening (or even for the next day). In less than 30 minutes, you have a delicious, heart healthy and satisfying meal that will make you want to slow down and enjoy this meal....at a table, with a fork and yumming with every bite.  

Eggplant and tofu lasagna

Squash slices
Purple Onions sliced
Eggplant slices
Marinara sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. In large casserole dish, lightly cover with marinara sauce. 

3. Add thin (about thumbnail size) slices of eggplant to cover bottom of the dish on top of marinara (do not overlap), the top with sliced squash and chopped onions. 

Mushrooms sliced
Jasmine rice (or your choice of rice/grain) - about 1 cup cooked

4. Top with mushrooms and rice. 

Firm tofu - crumbled
Marinara sauce
Onions
Garlic powder, pepper and basil

5. Crumble firm tofu (about 3/4 package) on top of rice/mushroom mixture and then spoon a bit more of marina on top and add a few more chopped onion.
Sprinkle with garlic powder, pepper and basil.

Eggplant slices
Shredded mozzarella
Marinara

6. Top with the rest of the eggplant slices and a few more spoonfuls of marinara. Spread marinara around and top with cheese. 

7. Cook for 25-28 minutes or until the top of the eggplant turns golden brown. 

8. Enjoy!

(If you think you don't like tofu, the flavors of the ingredients will mask the bland taste of tofu. This should serve 2 people with leftovers OR 304 people for one meal).