Healty Lasagna (A New Family Favorite!)

Think Lasagna is complicated and unhealthy? THINK AGAIN!

This is probably the most requested dish I've ever make-- from family and friends to total strangers, so many people fail to realize that good foods can taste amazing when cooked and combined correctly. And it's easy!! The hardest part will be chopping the onions! Spices are key; if all you have in your pantry are salt and pepper it's time to upsize! Go to your local spice section and experiment-- start with what you recognize and integrate what you don't. You'll be glad you did!

Utensils You Will Need:
13 x 9" casserole dish

1 pan to cook the meat in

Ingredients:

1 - Box “No Bake” lasagna (~9 noodles)

4-5 Roma tomatoes sliced

1-Bag of spinach (~8oz)

1- Red onion chopped

1-lb Lean ground meat—beef / turkey / chicken etc

8oz container of ricotta cheese

1 - Red bell pepper chopped

1- Small can of sliced black olives

3-4 Cloves garlic chopped

1-Jar tomato based pasta sauce

1 Package 2% shredded cheese

spices (Thyme, Rosemary, Pepper, Basil, Sage, Oregano etc...)

(Optional: Banana Peppers, Mushrooms)

Directions:

1.  Brown and drain excess fat from meat. Set aside

2.  Spoon 1/3 of pasta sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish.* Preheat oven according to lasagna noodle package directions (I usually set mine to 375°F)

3. Place three lasagna noodles side by side in the bottom of the pan. Spread about a spoonful of ricotta onto each noodle. Top with Spinach, bell peppers and tomatoes. Sprinkle some spices.

4. Spread ricotta cheese on three more lasagna noodles, place ricotta side down. Spoon 1/2 of the remaining sauce over noodles making sure to cover all edges.

5. Top noodles with ground beef olives, garlic, onions and more spices. Add three more noodles ricotta side down making sure all the edges are wet.*** 

6. Top with package of cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 45 min to 1 hour. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:

*Because of the sauce & wetness of the veggies you shouldn't need to use any non-stick spray or coating. I use a glass dish, if you use a dark colored metal pan you might have to adjust cooking times and temps, darker pans tend to cook quicker.

**There's no rhyme or reason to how the ingredients are layered, but spinach on the bottom seems to be the key to stopping the excess sogginess, which can occur because of the water naturally in the fresh veggies, it also soaks up a lot of flavor.

***Coating the edges is very important for the last layer of noodles otherwise they may dry out and become very hard.

Extra Notes:

Spices are just sprinkled however-- I don't measure them, I just know what I like :)p

Roma tomatoes are best for this recipe because they are generally less juicy than other tomatoes [which makes them perfect for sandwiches too!!] look for tomatoes that are large and red-orangey—small deep red tomatoes means they were probably picked early and chemically ripened, the deeper the red color the more juice a tomato will probably have. AVOID PURPLISH TOMATOES AT ALL COST! (Unless there’s some new rare purple tomato that I am unaware of) Overripe tomatoes have a terrible taste and smell that is very hard to remove from skin and clothing. If you can’t find fresh—look for diced Italian tomatoes and drain well. One regular can should do ya :)

Yield:
8 Servings

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Serving Size = 1/8 casserole

Calories   365	%DV*
Calories from Fat  128
Total Fat  15g	23%
Saturated Fat  7g	35%
Total Carbohydrate  34g	11%
Sodium  590mg	25%
Potassium  621mg	18%
Fiber  7g	28%
Sugar  8g
Protein  27g
Cholesterol  92g	3%

Vitamin A	117%
Calcium	38%
Iron	24%
Vitamin C	145%

*Based on 2,000 calorie diet