Inspired and energized by the local ingredients in some of the meals we were eating in Bali, we booked ourselves a raw food cooking class in Ubud to learn a couple new dishes.

We let our stomachs guide the way as we selected our top 5 choices to create from the menu.

Ready to put our cooking skills to the test, we chopped, diced and blended our way through 5 meals! All using the freshly grown produce on hand at Ubud Sari

Our favorite dish by far was the raw lasagna (Did we mention that the marinara sauce was incredible!?)

Want to make a raw lasagna dish of your own? Here’s how we made it!

You’ll need:

1 Zucchini

1 Cucumber

1 Eggplant

1 Jicama (can be substituted with water chestnuts, pear or apple)

1 Avocado

Basil pesto

Marinara sauce:

half a cup of sundried tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

2 Tomatoes

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp oregano

A handful of fresh basil leaves

2 dates

half a cup of olive oil

1 tsp flax seeds

1 tsp salt

1 lime

Here’s how to put it together:

1. To make the marinara sauce, Chop the tomatoes and place them in a blender along with the oregano, garlic, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, the honey, dates and olive oil. Squeeze a hint of lime and the salt. Blend until all ingredients are combined for about 1 – 2 minutes.

2. Slice your zucchini, eggplant and cucumber lengthways and cut them into even slices for layering.

3. Mash your avocado and set aside.

4. Place 2 even zucchini slices vertically side-by-side on a plate and spread with marinara sauce.

5. Follow by placing 2 slices of eggplant horizontally side-by-side on top and then spread with basil pesto.

6. Place 2 even cucumber slices vertically side-by-side and spread with mashed avocado.

7. Place 2 more slices of zucchini horizontally and spread with marinara sauce.

8. Top with jicama (or substitute) a slice of tomato, a few leaves of basil and garnish with some flax seeds.

9. Enjoy!

If you were wondering about Bruna’s unique headband she is wearing…it was made by a local woman at Bambu Indah. As we all sat for breakfast, an older woman approached us and gave each of us a beautiful flower headband handmade by the beautiful flowers from garden. A sweet little gift and token of kindness we will always remember from our trip to Bali!