Vegetarian Lasagna – Packed With Veggies and Flavor!!!

Tags

Lasagna, low-fat, marinara, mushrooms, pasta, spinach, vegetables, vegetarian, zucchini

Lasagna is one of my all-time favorite foods. After an in-depth discussion with my sister about our lasagna techniques, I had a full blown craving going! Lasagna is a great meal to feed a larger group, so I decided to make it when my older daughter and her husband came over for dinner. My daughter is eating a pescatarian diet (mostly vegetarian, with seafood), so I decided to make a vegetarian lasagna. I used the techniques in my normal lasagna, but I left out the meat and added in layers of various vegetables. This ended up being a delicious version of this meal!!! The flavors were bold and fresh and while it was very satisfying, it was a very low-fat, healthy meal. I’ll definitely be making this version again!!!

I kept this recipe as healthy as possible by making my own marinara. This way I can control exactly what goes into the sauce. Plus, I LOVE the flavor of my home made marinara! You could take this a step further and make a vegan version of this dish. There are tofu ricotta cheeses available and various non-dairy mozzarella cheeses, such as soy, that are also available.

I rounded out this delicious dinner with some fresh baked dill bread. You can get this going in your bread maker 3-4 hours before dinner time. I also made a Garden Salad with Herbed Ranch Dressing. The salad and dressing can also be made up to a day ahead and tossed just prior to serving. Overall, this was a great tasting dinner and is definitely company worthy!

Vegetable Lasagna

1 batch of my marinara recipe or 2 jars of pre-made (If making your own, you can start this well in advance as it is great when slow cooked)

2 Bell peppers, very thinly sliced (I used red and yellow, as I’m not a fan of green)

2 Medium zucchini, very thinly sliced (I used my mandolin slicer for this)

8 oz Baby Bella mushrooms, very finely chopped

1 Medium red onion, diced

4 oz of baby spinach leaves

16 oz Box of whole wheat lasagna noodles, uncooked

24 oz Fat Free Mozzarella cheese, shredded

16 oz container of fat free ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1/3 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper to taste

Tip: You can boil your lasagna noodles, if you wish. Personally, I never boil my noodles and I don’t buy special no-boil noodles. If find boiled lasagna noodles to be a huge hassle. I just use the regular whole wheat lasagna noodles and I find that if you use plenty of the moist ingredients around the noodles, they cook just fine in the baking process.

Start with getting your marinara made and simmering. If using jarred sauce, you don’t need to simmer it. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray and lay out your zucchini and bell pepper slices. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need two. Then lightly spray your veggies with olive oil spray. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until softened. Meanwhile, in a frying pan over medium high heat sauté onions until beginning to soften, then add mushrooms and continue to cook unto all are soft. Add spinach and sauté for a couple of minutes until cooked.

After zucchini and peppers are done cooking, lower oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Mix ricotta, eggs and parsley in a small bowl.

Lightly spray your lasagna pan with olive oil spray. Add a thin layer of sauce to bottom of pan, enough to coat it well, then put down a single layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, spread 1/3 of your ricotta mixture, spread all of mushroom/onion mixture, spread 1/3 of mozzarella, layer 1/3 of sauce, more noodles, another 1/3 of your ricotta, spread layer of zucchini, 1/3 of mozzarella, 1/3 of sauce, pasta, last 1/3 of ricotta, layer bell pepper slices, last 1/3 of sauce, last 1/3 of mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese.

Cover lasagna pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Makes about 8 servings.

Tip: Leftover lasagna freezes great! So save leftovers for a quick lunch or dinner in the future!

Enjoy!

 

Fresh Oregano – What Should I Do With All This Stuff?!?

Tags

dried, drying, Fresh oregano, Gardening, herb, Herbs, Lasagna, marinara, vegan, vegetarian

A few weeks ago I posted about planting my garden, so I could have some fresh veggies and herbs to cook with. One of the things I planted was oregano. If I had know how well this stuff grows, I would have planted it years ago!!! This one plant in a pot has taken off like gang busters! At first I was hesitant to use any, because my plant seemed so small. I blinked and now I’m wondering what the heck I’m going to do with all of it! I did some research and thought I would share my findings with my foodie friends.

As you can see by my first picture, I decided to dry some. I had read that when the plant starts to flower it is at it’s most flavorful, so this is a good time to snip some branches for drying. I simply cut several branches off, tied them together at the cut ends with string and hung them up on my pot rack to dry. It looks pretty up there and makes my kitchen smell nice!  Once dried it can be crumbed and stored in a spice jar for later use or to give as a gift. I’m going to take some over to my sister tomorrow!

Another tip I found, is to cut up the leaves and freeze it in some water in ice cube trays. Supposedly when you thaw it, it still has the fresh flavor. Makes sense to me!

I love to use fresh basil and oregano in my marinara sauce! So delicious! Once my tomato plants start producing watch out!!! My marinara is being taken to a whole other level!!! I think I might make a batch of sauce on Monday and make some vegetarian lasagna for my oldest daughter and her husband when they come over for dinner!

Really the uses for oregano are abundant! Here is just a sampling of the possibilities: egg/cheese combinations, breads, vegetables (especially squash, eggplant, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms, capsicum), meats, fish, chicken, pizza, pastas, Greek salads and sauces. Soups, stews, stuffings, sausage and pork.

Like I always say, go play with your food! Find creative ways to use those ingredients, try new things and you might just find your new favorite dish!

So what are some of your favorite ways to use oregano? I’m very open to additional ideas as I have a bunch of the stuff!!!

Zucchini Lasagna

Tags

Cooking, Dinner, Food, healthy, Lasagna, lchf, lowcarb, recipe, zucchini

 This was originally posted by someone else, but I’m re-posting to remind myself, “Must try zucchini lasagna!”. I’ve made zoodles, so this sounds like a logical next step!

Hi, everyone! I’m a firm believer in quality over quantity so that’s why I haven’t posted anything in a while… 🙈 But tonight I just had the best lasagna EVER and I feel as though I ought to share it with the world (after all, I’d like to think I’m not a selfish person- at […]

https://bringyourowncarbs.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/zucchini-lasagna/

Thanksgiving Tip #13 – Turn Leftovers into Thanksgiving Lasagna

Tags

casserole, Cooking, Food, idea, Lasagna, Leftovers, recipe, Thanksgiving

  
I don’t know about yours, but my family is all about Thanksgiving leftovers! We specifically make more food than we need, so we’ll have plenty of leftovers. My husband is crazy for the turkey! We’ll be having 6 people at dinner and he wants to cook a 30 pound bird! It’s that barbecuing! I’m telling you! (See my blog post on November 7 – Thanksgiving Tips Part 4 – Barbecued Turkey)

After a day or two of eating the leftovers as is, I start getting a little bored with them, but I hate throwing food out. It’s time to get creative!!!

One of the things I like to make with our leftovers is what I call Thanksgiving Lasagna. Now it’s not “lasagna” as we usually know it and there isn’t actually any pasta involved, but it has that layered effect that you get with lasagna.

You can really do the layers any way you choose, but my one piece of advice would be to be sure you scatter the more liquid ingredients, like cranberry sauce and gravy, throughout the lasagna, so they can help keep the other ingredients moist.

Thanksgiving Lasagna

Spray a baking/lasagna pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer ingredients as suggested below. If it seems a little dry, add some of that turkey stock that you made or some chicken broth.

• Sweet potatoes or yams

• Vegetables – Green bean casserole or carrots would be good!

• Turkey

• Cranberry sauce

• Dressing/stuffing

• Mashed potatoes

• Gravy

• Top with your favorite shredded cheese

Bake until cheese is melted and lasagna is heated through. Timing will depend on the size of your pan. Probably about 30-45 minutes.

Another layering option: Layer a bit of leftovers between two slices of bread to make a delish sandwich. You can even butter the bread on the outside and put in a Panini press or waffle iron to crisp it up and make it more compact!

Lasagna!!! One of My Favorite Meals of all Time and it Can be Easy!!!

Tags

Cooking, Food, healthy, Lasagna, low-fat, pasta

  
Lasagna!!! What can you say?!? A good one is just heavenly! I’ve found that I’m kind of particular about lasagna and I haven’t found too many restaurant versions that I like. Maybe it just tastes better when my own blood, sweat and tears have gone into making it.
When I first started making lasagna, following a recipe I got off a pasta box, it was very time consuming. Sadly, it became one of those “special” things I only made once in a while, but then I learned a trick that made it so much easier and quite a bit faster. That part where you boil the pasta, forget it!!! You just don’t need to do it! Those huge lasagna noodles are disaster to boil! They rip! They stick together! They get bunched up and don’t cook all the way! Forget that!
I have found that regardless of the type of lasagna noodles I use (boil-free, whole wheat, regular pasta) that as long as when I layer the lasagna I make sure the pasta is covered with a decent amount of cheese and sauce, they will just fine on their own during the baking process. My lasagna comes out soft enough that they are very pleasant to eat, but firm enough that a slice of lasagna sits up nice and proud on the plate!

But the most important ingredient in lasagna? Let’s be honest! It’s the sauce! It’s all about the sauce! Sure, if you want to crank out a quick, weeknight version you can use the jarred stuff, but I prefer to make my own sauce from scratch and use that in my lasagna. You can check out my blog entry from August 11, 2015 for my Marinara Sauce recipe. It’s low-fat and delicioso!

Kel’s Lasagna

Kelly’s Marinara Sauce (See 8/11/15 blog post for recipe)

½ of a 1 Pound Package of Lasagna Noodles (I usually use whole wheat)

1 egg beaten

1 – 16 oz container of Non-fat Ricotta Cheese (or you can substitute non-fat Cottage Cheese)

1 tbsp Fresh Flat-leaf Parsley, Chopped

1 Pound Low-fat Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded (I usually save time by buying the bags of pre-shredded cheese)

½ cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated

Prepare the marinara sauce according to the recipe or in a pinch you can use jarred sauce. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a Pyrex lasagna dish with non-stick cooking spray. Combine egg, ricotta, and parsley in a bowl. In bottom of Pyrex lasagna dish, spread about 1 ½ cup of marinara sauce. Layer 1/3 of the uncooked lasagna noodles, spread 1/3 of remaining marinara sauce, then spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 1/3 of the mozzarella and then 1/3 of the parmesan. Repeat layering until complete and topped with cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes, remove foil, and bake another 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes. 8-10 servings.

The great thing about lasagna is it can be pretty loosey goosey. If you’re not exact with your layers, it’s OK. Like it cheesier? Add more cheese! Like it saucier? Add more sauce! Like olives or artichoke hearts? Add some of those! Great creative and make it your own! Play with your food! It’s fun! I hope you enjoy!