No-Boil, Veggie-Tastic Lasagna

This gorgeous and absolutely addictive lasagna is wonderful because you can use any kind of lasagna noodle and not have to boil it first. The secret is just adding more liquid to the sauce and pressing the noodles firmly into the sauce. This recipe was originally a vegetarian entreé, however, my husband demanded a meaty lasagna. Make it vegetarian by taking out the meat and increasing the mushrooms to 3-4 grated mushrooms. Look below the recipe for my solution to garlic bread.

Meat (Optional)

1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Sauce

1 16oz jar marinara (I like Trader Joe's Basil and Tomato)
1 can low-sodium diced tomatoes
1 cup water
2 zucchinis, grated
½-⅔ cup matchstick organic carrots or 3 small organic carrots, grated
1-2 crimini (or white button) mushrooms, grated
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

10 whole wheat lasagna noodles (Ronzoni makes them)

Cheese
1 cup nonfat cottage cheese
1 cup mozzarella (or more, if you wish)
3 handfuls (or more) fresh spinach, torn

In a large bowl, mix the ingredients of the sauce together. Add the cooled turkey. Mix together very well.

In a large Pyrex dish (9" × 13"), layer: sauce, 5 noodles, sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella, spinach, sauce, 5 noodles, sauce, and then mozzarella. The noodles will not fit quite right into the dish, so break to size as needed.

Bake at 350°F, covered with aluminum foil, 45-50 minutes (or until noodles are soft in the middle of the casserole). Uncover for 10 minutes more. I suggest baking this with a cookie sheet underneath to catch boil-overs.

*Tip: if you spray the inside of the aluminum foil with olive oil spray, it will keep all of your mozzarella from sticking to the foil instead of the lasagna!

8 servings; approx. 314 calories/serving, 12g fat, 32g carb, 10g protein

Garlic Bread for Busy People

Ingredients

1 thin bagel, white sandwich round, white slice of bread, or whatever your favorite white bread may be
Butter
Garlic powder
Parmigiano Reggiano 

Take your bread, spread (lightly) with butter. Give a slight sprinkle of garlic powder to the bread and butter. Sprinkle generously with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Set in a toaster oven or under the broiler for 2 minutes or so—just until the surface of the bread is browned.