Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Labor of Love Lasagna!


My supper club decided that next month's theme will be recipes from Cooking Light Magazine. I started thumbing through recipes already and saw a dish that I wanted to make this week since it looked so good and was easy to freeze. This lasagna was a labor of love, let me tell you! I can't believe I prepared this dish on a weeknight, but it was well worth it.

Three different pots, a casserole dish, multiple bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons, a garlic press, two different wooden spoons, a large ladle, and a dirty spoon rest are all piled high in my kitchen sink!

I tweaked the recipe originally published by the magazine and was happy with the results! It was light, yet the creamy spinach sauce and browned cheese on top were rich in flavor and made for a guiltless piece of comfort food!

Garden-Style Lasagna (Adapted from Cooking Light)
Ingredients:
Olive oil
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped yellow onion
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chopped zucchini
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
1 box of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 1/2 cups of 1% milk
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
dash of nutmeg
1 tub (16 ounces) of 1% whipped cottage cheese (Friendship brand is best)
2 cups reduced fat shredded Italian blend cheeses (Sargento brand is best)
16 lasagna noodles, cooked and divided

Directions:
1) Heat oven to 375 degrees and coat lasagna pan using cooking spray
2) Add one tablespoon olive oil to dutch oven on medium heat and cook onions until they are translucent and light brown, 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Spoon mixture into bowl.
3) Add one tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and stir in zucchini. Saute for 8 minutes until it begins to brown; add onion mixture back into dutch oven.
4) Add a teaspoon of olive oil to pan and stir in carrots, sauteing for 8 minutes. Add thawed broccoli. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute for another minute and set aside.
5) In a medium saucepan, place flour in and slowly whisk in milk. Bring do a low boil, constantly whisking for 2 minutes. Add spinach, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Keep on low simmer so sauce stays warm.
6) Cook lasagna noodles according to directions minus 2 minutes since they will soften in the oven.
7) Assemble the lasagna: Place noodles on bottom of pan. Spread cottage cheese over the noodles. Add the spinach sauce and then the vegetable mixture. Repeat until you have noodles on top. Add the last of the spinach sauce on top and then place Italian cheese over the sauce.
8) Bake for 20 minutes
9) Place oven on low broil for 2 minutes or until the cheese on top browns nicely.


17 comments:

  1. Looks like a wonderful way to sneak in a bunch of veggies!

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  2. Lasagna is DEFINITELY a labor of love...but also DEFINITELY worth it. Love all the veggies in here - that is the best kind of lasagna!

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  3. I love Cooking Light and am also a subscriber. Their recipes never fail me. This recipes looks cheesy and creamy enough to pass for the full fat version, no one the wiser ;D ...

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  4. Awesome lasagna - I love all the healthy veggies in there!

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  5. Lasagna is definitely a labor of love and worth it each and every time, especially when you share it with friends and family. I love all the veggies in here. It is a good way to get the kids to eat more veggies as well....all disguised in the cheese!

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  6. Cooking light ,an all time fav super food is perfecto and i love the way ur lasagna turned....labour of love...yeah all the way!!!

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  7. That looks awesome!!!! simply delicious..

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  8. What a giant pan of delicious looking lasagna! Enough to share with all of us...

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  9. That looks delicious. I have always wanted to make a veggie lasagna and this looks perfect!

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  10. I love lasagna! This dish look scrumptious Aimee!

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  11. I like Cooking Light Magazine, but the recipes are always hit and miss for me. I am glad to know this recipe is a hit, I LOVE veggie lasagnas but never had a good recipe... until now ,-)

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  12. I am starving. I want this for BREAKFAST. Right NOW!!!

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  13. This looks amazing! I could eat a big piece right now. Never mind that it's not even 8 am...

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  14. Agreed that lasagne is a labour of love- there's no way to cut out that pile of dishes. Love the sound of this with all those added veges :)

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  15. TOTALLY worth a massive stack of dirty dishes and a few hours of time--what a glorious meal. whipped cottage cheese? this, i need to find and try!

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  16. That looks so good! I think vegetable lasagnes are usually much more successful than meat ones. Mine are, anyway!

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  17. Oh goodness! This is one of my most favorite comfort foods ever! Veggie lasagna rocks! And thanks for the sweetest comment you left for me=)

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